LONG WALK TO MANGAUNG

The two most powerful men in S.A politics fight for the country's top position

As the ANC elective congress approaches battles for leadership positions in the party intensifies. The party is currently divided between the pro-Zuma lobby group and the pro-Motlanthe lobby group and this cause the road to Mangaung to be an interesting one.

The battle over leadership positions first began when the then-president of the ANC Youth League Julius Sello Malema publicly announced the league’s national congress resolution to instate ANC Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe as president in Mangaung despite President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma’s intentions to stick around for another term. This resolution certainly caused division within the party as many senior leaders were for it while others chose to be loyal to the currently reigning president.

Zuma is pulling all the stops to ensure that he gets the second term he is eyeing for. He expelled the youth leader for suggesting he be removed from his position. This certainly raised tension between the ANC and its youth wing organization. The Umkhonto Wesizwe Military Wing Veterans Association even suggested that the youth league be disbanded from the ANC as it has lost its use and meaning. Zuma in his efforts to retain his position has also ordered the SABC to reduce its coverage of Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and to stop projecting him as being so presidential, to his disadvantage.

With Malema’s slow and sudden demise in the spotlight, Zuma’s support base grows from strength to strength. Motlanthe does not seem to be neutral in the battle. He clearly supports the youth league as he attended the league’s centenary celebration rally in Tzaneen despite Nehawu’s call for him to decline the invite. His presence at the rally is seen by the ANC as a sign that he is ready to challenge President Zuma for the ANC’s top position. At the rally, Motlanthe stated that he would run as president if he would get elected.

What further intensifies the battle over positions is that the youth league wants its former president and Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula, who also attended the rally, to replace Gwede Mantashe as the party’s secretary-general.

In the ANC top six officials there is a clear division which stems from recent heated political events involving the suspension of the youth league leader. The ANC general-treasurer Matthew Phosa, ANC deputy secretary-general Thandi Modise and Motlanthe are all in full support of Malema and the youth league plus its resolution for Zuma to be replaced whereas Zuma, Mantashe and ANC National Chairperson Baleka Mbete are against it. The leaders who support the youth league are obviously doing so for their own personal benefit as the league is calling for Motlanthe to be president, Phosa to be deputy president, Modise to retain her position, Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile to replace Mbete as national chairperson.

The pro-Zuma league, on the other hand, wants their ambitious leader to retain his position as president, Minster of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande to be deputy president, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to be secretary-general and Public Enterprise Minister Malusi Gigaba to be deputy secretary-general.

In the alliances, the Cosatu, SACP and Nehawu are together pushing for Zuma’s re-election as ANC president while the youth league is pulling on the opposite direction. In the provinces so far the Zuma lobby group is supported by Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal which has an overwhelming 25% of voting delegates. The anti-Zuma camp has support from the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Northern Cape, Gauteng, North West and Western Cape. Free State remains divided between the two lobby groups.

In 2007 at the 52rd national congress of the ANC held in Polokwane, Zuma walked away victorious after beating Thabo Mbeki for the president seat. We can only find out in December which team will walk away victorious this time however the road to Mangaung remains a contested terrain as many ANC and its leagues and alliances leaders use the party’s centenary celebrations to campaign and members publicly wear T-shirts of their favourite candidates in them. Nominations for the positions only open in October so the ANC members will use the provincial, regional and branches conferences between now and June to lobby for their favored candidates.

"You can't kill a long history of comradeship"

The great pretenders: The two rivals are remaining civil towards each other personally but remain competitors politically.

President Zuma, Deputy President Montlanthe, National Chaiperson Baleka Mbete. pic sourced. 

Montlanthe was present at the ANCYL congress and the ANCYL centenary lecture. He is showing his  solidarity with the organisation. 

After being the secretary-general of the ANC, it was in Polokwane that Montlanthe was chosen to be deputy president. 

Montlanthe has often been referred to as the puppet of Zuma.

Montlanthe got a taste of being a president during the time Mbeki was removed and he stepped in as an Acting President

Malema 's call to put Montlanthe on the highest position in the land will also advance his political future as he will climb the ladder so quick.