: Zuma Wants Mbeki to See Out His Term

South Africa: Zuma Wants Mbeki to See Out His Term

	Email This Page Print This Page Comment on this article

Business Day (Johannesburg)

9 June 2008
Posted to the web 9 June 2008

Karima Brown
Johannesburg

AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma has thrown an isolated President Thabo Mbeki a lifeline, endorsing Mbeki's presidency until the end of his term next year, saying there were no rival "camps" in the ANC.

Their show of unity came in a lengthy joint letter to City Press newspaper yesterday, and follows a report in the paper two weeks ago that said Mbeki's followers had mounted a "fight-back" campaign against Zuma.

"Neither of us holds opposing political positions. Neither of us is involved in a struggle to build a personal support base in the ANC ... there is no Zuma camp in the ANC. There is no Mbeki camp in the ANC," the letter reads. The letter comes amid calls from among the ANC's leftist allies for Mbeki to step down, saying he is unable to govern effectively or provide the leadership required.

The high-profile unity attempt faces a hard sell among senior ANC members. They said it would amount to an "empty declaration" unless backed up by "practical and genuine" steps to address underlying divisions in the ruling party.

The ANC's allies and some members of the party's national executive committee (NEC) said yesterday it was no use "pretending that divisions were not real" and warned that the two leaders had tried in the past to brush off differences, with little or no success.

" This is just another example of an elite deal," a senior ANC NEC member said of Zuma and Mbeki's letter to City Press, in which the two men called on ANC members to stop using their names to fan division and factionalism.

Several NEC members canvassed yesterday said they were not aware of, or had not seen, the letter, and expressed mixed feelings about it.

However, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the ANC's top six officials had "signed off on all efforts to further unity in the ANC", including the letter. Another ANC NEC member, who had not seen it, took a different view, saying "it should be welcomed" because the ANC could not "afford to be divided" when it had to go into an election campaign.

Relevant Links Southern Africa South Africa

While the South African Communist Party (SACP) welcomed the initiative, party spokesman Malesela Maleka said the letter should be backed by "practical action" on transition issues such as SA's security agencies, the debacle at the SABC, the crisis in Zimbabwe and the electricity crisis.

"Unless they go into the provinces and address the organisation, people will continue to do things in their name," Maleka said.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which did not endorse the SACP's earlier call for Mbeki to step down, said it had "lost confidence" in his leadership. "They ought to do more than just write letters. January 8th was a missed opportunity when President Mbeki held a press conference while the new ANC leaders were speaking to the nation. It left a bitter taste in the mouths of many ," said Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.

--
Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: +250-08470205
Home: +250-55104140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali-Rwanda
East Africa
Blog: http://www.cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID : Kayisa66