Why are there attempts to part ANC with tradition?

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe’s role in the run up to the party’s December conference could be more interesting than his entire term as custodian of the party membership.

Imagine if Mantashe was to enter the race for the ANC top job. He plays a key role in determining the outcome of the audits in the nine provinces to determine how many delegates each province ultimately sends to the elective conference.

This means Mantashe would have an advantage over all other candidates. He could then easily build his support base.

Unlike other candidates who have come against stumbling blocks like Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mantashe does not have to rely on any ANC tradition.

This tradition, which sees the deputy president step up to lead the party when their principal’s term of office ends, is again being tested, a few months ahead of the party’s elective conference.

The resolution adopted at the party’s 1949 national conference, meant to guide the election of a new leader, seems a distant memory.

Some in the ANC argue there is no such tradition, simply to elevate an ally to replace the outgoing incumbent. President Jacob Zuma is on record denying that such a tradition exists.

He has thrown his weight behind his former wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, saying it was time a woman led the organisation.

Two other women – Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete – are also in the running for the presidency of the party.

But others, like Bheki Cele, the deputy minister of agriculture and ANC national executive committee member, disagree with Zuma.

“The ANC is not a royal dynasty and does not have kings who must be succeeded by their queens or princes,” Cele said recently.

“In 2007 we fought to ensure that the ANC tradition that the deputy president succeeds the incumbent is maintained.

“As a result of this, the current president succeeded former president Thabo Mbeki. We did this because Albert Luthuli had been a deputy president when he succeeded the then president.

“He was in turn succeeded by his deputy, Oliver Tambo, when he passed away. Tambo was succeeded by Nelson Mandela and Mandela was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki was succeeded by his deputy, the current president.”

This tendency of overlooking deserving individuals for positions in the ANC is also a source of divisions that have rocked the governing party.

The question is, why are there attempts to block a deputy president from ascending to the throne?

At the Polokwane conference in 2007, former president Mbeki contested Zuma who was his deputy at the time. Mbeki did not want Zuma to succeed him.

Looking at the shenanigans in the country under Zuma’s leadership, one can argue that Mbeki had a valid reason why he did not want Zuma to succeed him.

History has a tendency of repeating itself. Now Zuma does not want Ramaphosa to replace him as ANC leader.

Instead, he wants Dlamini-Zuma to take over the ANC top job. Just like Mbeki, Zuma has not explained why he does not want Ramaphosa to succeed him.

Maybe in future we will get answers why Zuma didn’t endorse Ramaphosa. Zuma’s supporters see Ramaphosa as having connections to “white monopoly capital”.

For a smooth transition, the president should be succeeded by his deputy.

But that is unlikely to happen given the precarious position the ANC finds itself in at the moment.