Unity doesn’t seem to be on the outgoing ANC president’s agenda
President Jacob Zuma has called for women to be elected to senior positions in the movement and for the youth to be promoted within the party.
Delegates arrive for the ANC conference in Nasrec in Johannesburg on Saturday. PHOTO: Getrude Makhafola/ANA
He praised the ANC Women’s league in particular for its achievement to recruit young women to be active in the party. The fact that three women contested for the ANC presidency was a milestone in the organisation’s history.
He was referring to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Lindiwe Sisulu and Baleka Mbete who were among the seven candidates vying for the top spot.
However, while Zuma commended the ANC veterans for being a rear-guard of the ANC who advised it when there was a problem in the organisation, he failed to talk to their demands to assist in resolving divisions in the ANC. The president sided with another veterans grouping.
At the recent national policy conference, Zuma lambasted the 101 stalwarts and veterans, who called for him to step down over his controversial March Cabinet reshuffle in which he fired former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas. The 101 stalwarts and veterans as they were called, proposed that the ANC should organise a national consultative conference to discussion how to resolve the divisions and factionalism among ANC members.
After they were ignored by the ANC Luthuli House, the stalwarts subsequently organised the consultative conference on their own to took resolutions that fiercely lambasted the Zuma led ANC national executive committee.
Similarly, who the president did not address the divisions within the Umkhonto Wesizwe military veterans. Instead he praised the Umkhonto Wesizwe Military Veterans Association led by Kebby Maphatsoe fighting for the interests of former MK members such as educations, healthcare and housing.
He did not allude to the need for unity between MKMVA and the MK National Council, a parallel structure which is at loggerheads with Maphatsoe over his leadership style and allegedly recruiting non-MK members into his association.
The MK Council comprises of former MK cadres who emanated from the various detachments of the former ANC military wing.
Zuma’s only reference to unity was vague as he called for former MK members to unite. “We need to find a way to bring the members together,” he said.
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