ANC factions at war
As attacks on Zuma intensify, SACP hints it will discuss recall
ANC factions have launched open warfare after the funeral of Makhenkesi Stofile on Thursday, at which President Jacob Zuma came under attack as the battle over the possible arrest of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan escalated.
And with Zuma out of the country for two weeks on official business, he is being increasingly isolated. Former staunch allies the SACP said it was only logical that Zuma shoulder some of the blame for the ANC’s decline in the local government elections, which included the loss of three metros.
Former foreign affairs director-general Sipho Pityana, who was scathing in his assessment of Zuma in a speech at Stofile’s funeral, has earned the wrath of the Zuma-aligned youth league which yesterday said it was “disgusted”.
Those who choose a funeral to “vent their anger and frustration” should have known that African custom frowned on this, “no matter how one seeks to please one’s fellow counter-revolutionaries”, it said.
“To have been with us and served in our ranks does not entitle anyone to behave in a counter-revolutionary manner, worse on an occasion to honour one of our greatest icons,” the league said.
It called on the ANC to discipline “holier-than-thou revolutionaries and masters of the ANC”.
Pityana told mourners at the Fort Hare funeral that if Zuma had been present, he would have called on him to resign.
Referring to the Constitutional Court judgment on Nkandla earlier this year, he said when the court found someone had broken their oath of office “what it means is that you are honourable no longer, that you are untrustworthy”.
He said accountability was an important measure of respect.
“The reality is some leaders have been co-opted on to the eating trough. So we must ask the question: Do we have leaders of the revolution, or do we have full-time thieves and looters?” he asked.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa also contradicted Zuma, who had said he had no powers to stop the investigation into Gordhan. Ramaphosa came out in support of Gordhan saying his possible arrest “should concern us”.
“It should not be a government that wages a war against itself,” Ramaphosa said in his first tacit questioning of the president since becoming his deputy. This is likely to be interpreted as his opening gambit in the succession race that is gathering steam in the wake of the ANC’s poor election results.
Amid signs that the pursuit of Gordhan was turning into a rallying point, with civil society, business and former ANC heavyweights weighing in on the minister’s behalf, Zuma did his best to deflect the backlash, saying he had full confidence in his minister.
As Zuma is out of the country, fears of an imminent cabinet reshuffle may be premature, but the prospects of an early ANC conference appear to be growing.
Yesterday the SACP said it was disappointed by the ANC NEC’s response to its loss of support.
The SACP’s central committee is meeting for the first time since the elections and is expected to take a strong stance on the reasons the ANC had experienced its worst electoral performance since 1994.
Deputy General-Secretary Jeremy Cronin said yesterday the party was doubtful whether the ANC had the capacity to arrest its consistent decline.
Cronin said while the SACP had refrained from a call for Zuma to step down, it was clear that opposition parties had capitalised on the weaknesses related to Zuma and his own stance on various issues, “especially the clumsy manner with which the ANC handled the Nkandla matter”.
“The leadership of the ANC need to acknowledge that there are presidential issues, like Nkandla, and throw-away remarks about clever blacks which were unwise,” said Cronin.
“For many years the ANC has accurately identified what the problems are, which include the growing gap between the mass base and the political elite and the problems of corruption, gate-keeping and manipulation of membership lists,” said Cronin.
He said the party would discuss the call for an early conference, but warned it would only support such a call if it was based on the principle of “refreshing” the leadership and dealing with core challenges facing the party.
“It needs to unify the ANC on a principle basis and not on the basis of covering up differences, or negotiations between factions, or a shootout between factions.
“If it is rigged in terms of membership like we saw in KZN’s provincial conference, it will produce many problems,” said Cronin.
NELSON Mandela’s grandson, iNkosi Mandla Mandela, called on ANC members to stop attacking its own constituents, and said his family was still waiting for an explanation from the CIA on its role in the capture of his grandfather in 1962.
He made the statement yesterday after arriving in Durban for the weekend’s Mandela Marathon, with the finish line at the capture site in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
Accompanied by a large group of family members, Mandela received a warm welcome from KZN ANC secretary Super Zuma, along with eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and deputy mayor Fawzia Peer.
Mandela said: “We have come to participate in recognition and celebration of my grandfather’s legacy,” adding that on the day of his grandfather’s capture “two governments collided” referring to the apartheid government and the American CIA.
“They stripped us of a father and grandfather and we are still waiting for them to explain this to us,” he said.
And while harsh criticism for President Jacob Zuma had been dished out by ANC veteran Sipho Pityana at the funeral of Makhenkesi Stofile at Fort Hare on Thursday, Mandela referred to the current ANC infighting, saying: “This issue of personal attacks, we need to withdraw from it and look to service delivery for our people.”
He also expressed his disappointment in the loss, to the opposition DA, of Nelson Mandela Bay, which is the Mandela home ground and said, “We need to take a step back and have some introspection.
“Let’s look back to the giants of Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo and ask how they would resolve these matters. For over a century, the ANC has faced many challenges and we need to come out as a collective,” he said.
He also slammed opposition parties’ use of the Mandela name and legacy in the hotly contested local election, saying: “In recent times, entities tried to borrow this legacy and our own icon. My grandfather was a son born of the Mandelas and his political home was the ANC.”
On the marathon and related activities this weekend, Mandela encouraged families to participate in the events as a celebration of Women’s Month.
His family retinue included his maternal grandmother, Anna Mosehle, his mother Nolusapho Mandela, and his wives, Nodiyala and Nosekeni Mandela (formerly Rabia Clarke).
For more on the marathon, see page 31.