ANC cowards, says analyst

The Gauteng ANC is casting around for allies ahead of the elective conference in December but is being deliberately ambiguous on its choice of a candidate for president of the party and country as it might harm that candidate’s chances, political analysts say.

Gauteng has decided not to pronounce its preference for the top position, despite the fact that four of its five party regions want Cyril Ramaphosa to be the next ANC president.

Instead, provincial chairperson Paul Mashatile said members should define the characteristics that an ANC leader must possess, the criteria for qualification and how to manage the succession debate.

He said the exercise should be informed by the Through The Eye of The Needle document that gave guidelines on leadership for the party. He also called for the reconfiguration of Luthuli House headquarters, a view that appeared to resonate with other provinces.

“Gauteng realises that on their own they do not have a strong voice, hence the need to lobby other provinces before formally taking a position,” said political analyst Ralph Mathekga yesterday. “This is an interesting strategy.”

But economic analyst Zamikhaya Maseti warned that Gauteng’s political ambiguity would be costly in the short and long term.

“This stance by Gauteng can, at best, be described as political cowardice. It’s not serving any good,” Maseti said.

The analysts were reacting to Mashatile’s closing statement at the party’s provincial policy conference on Sunday. He cautioned members against the use of “concepts and language to advance political arguments”.

He said: “We agreed the ANC will continue to fight against white domination and other forms of domination within our society.

“We also agreed that monopoly capital remains the enemy of the democratic revolution.

“In this regard, the conference has made it clear that there is nothing called white monopoly capital in our vocabulary.”