Put SA first before power struggle
ONE THING became patently clear this week, as the dust settles from one of the most extraordinary official funerals in recent time – at the least since the Reverend Makhenkesi Stofile’s funeral in August – is that the succession race to lead the ANC is well and truly on. Not that there was ever any doubt. The party’s secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, tried desperately hard to put a lid on talk of electioneering and intra-party politicking before the year began, but this was overshadowed first by the debate on women as presidents and then the issue of whether deputy presidents in the party were automatic choices to become presidents.
President Jacob Zuma was sending obvious signals that he would like his former wife and former African Union supremo Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to succeed him. This sparked a furious outburst from the party chair and Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, who revealed her own loftier ambitions.
The succession debate ticked over, Mantashe’s exhortations ignored, as the potential contenders grew from two to three and then even more – as leaks from the different factions filled social media chat rooms and armchair pundits did the rest.
By this weekend, the camps might have become even more clearly delineated if the much vaunted cabinet reshuffle following Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s peremptory recall eventually takes place.
The race for the top job – and presumably the Union Buildings – is officially on, but no one seems to be observing the rules of engagement that have characterized previous ANC contests.
If the president does, as is his prerogative, clear out his cabinet, he will bolster the ranks of the coalition of the wounded, forging not just a rod for his own back but also a group of people who will not hesitate to use it. As such, his own conduct might become increasingly partisan as he battles to secure his power base not just for now but beyond the conference this year.
The potential for collateral damage has never been higher.
Once again we ask everyone involved to put the interests of the country before their own sectarian concerns.