Mantashe still tipped to be No 2, despite about-face

Despite Gwede Mantashe’s U-turn on President Jacob Zuma’s unilateral Cabinet reshuffle two weeks ago — first outraged, then conciliatory following calls for party unity — the ANC secretary general is still in the running for higher office.

The party’s Eastern Cape structures still endorse him but his antics have cost him the support of the faction backing Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, which says he is untrustworthy.

The unprecedented public disagreement in the ANC’s top echelons over Zuma’s Cabinet reshuffle has affected the succession battle.

The Eastern Cape is understood to be supporting Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to replace Zuma as head of state, with Mantashe still a leading contender on Ramaphosa’s slate.

ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane said the party needs people like Mantashe, who are “not reduced into factions or patronage”.

“We need people like him in the top leadership. He’s a very strong character and a very principled person,” Mabuyane said, describing Mantashe as one of the “most effective” secretaries general the ANC has had.

Mantashe was initially supported by both the Ramaphosa and Zuma camps. Earlier this year, DlaminiZuma lobbyists were convinced to support Mantashe for deputy president, despite their reservations.

A senior lobbyist for Dlamini-Zuma said Mantashe was suggested as deputy president because he represents “left forces” such as the South African Communist Party and trade union federation Cosatu.

“[We] managed to convince comrades who had serious reservations about his [Mantashe’s] management of the organisation that he is very open and friendly,” one lobbyist said.

But after Mantashe said publicly that Zuma’s Cabinet list had been “made somewhere else”, he lost the support of Dlamini-Zuma’s faction.

“The way he manages the organisation now, when he communicates to media after the national executive committee meetings, he behaves like a headman of a village,” the senior lobbyist said. “He cannot as secretary general come out and release his own feelings outside of organisational views — that was the last straw.”

The Western Cape ANC is also believed to be behind Ramaphosa. Provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said Mantashe adheres to procedure and the ANC’s constitution, even when it frustrates other members.

“He’s a stickler for the rules and he insists that, if you want deployment, you come through the secretary’s office,” Jacobs said this week.

“He is someone that is the custodian of our rules. He knows our rules and implements them without fear or favour. He might not be very diplomatic but he doesn’t mince his words,” he added.

Mantashe’s 10-year stint as secretary general has seen the party fracture and its membership dwindle by hundreds of thousands. He was harshly criticised for his handling of Julius Malema’s expulsion and for establishing the task team that reconstituted the ANC Youth League.

He was also panned for being inconsistent in managing regional conferences — he allowed the eThekwini region to rerun its conference but rejected similar requests from the party’s Eastern Cape regions.

A senior tripartite alliance leader this week accused Mantashe of being responsible for the breakdown in the alliance partners’ relationship.

“If I had to speak my mind, I will really shoot him down because when it comes to managing the relationship between the alliance partners, he has been terrible,” he said.

Mantashe has been under attack of late, with Zuma’s supporters accusing him of siding with Ramaphosa’s faction and abusing his office.

Jacobs said this is a problem. “The current attacks on his office are a cause of concern … You get a sense that there is no longer revolutionary discipline.”

Mabuyane said Mantashe is a man of integrity who understands ANC policy: “He has distinguished himself as someone who understands policy and articulates well on matters of policy. He’s never been found wanting. He’s been quite firm and strict.

“When you work with him, you don’t have sleepless nights. He’s not a plotter. He has got very clear views on matters.”