Mantashe ‘gearing up for a higher position in the post-Zuma ANC’

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe’s bombshell announcement yesterday that he will step down at the party’s December elective conference will deepen divisions and instability within the organisation. Mantashe has shown his true colours as a long-time Jacob Zuma opponent, said political analyst Steven Friedman.

Another analyst, Ralph Mathekga, warned that the vacant secretary-general’s chair would be filled by those loyal to Zuma and close to the Gupta family.

Speaking at an imbizo in Boksburg organised by the South African Communist Party (SACP) – and attended by various organisations, including the South African Council of Churches – Mantashe surprised many people with the announcement.

Although he would not say what his plans were, he remarked that the stress of sitting in the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters had become untenable.

“I am living stress. You can take it for 10 years, but you can’t take it for 15 years.”

His comments were made on the record, at a meeting where SACP and Cosatu delegates called on President Jacob Zuma to resign.

Mantashe made straight-talking comments about the “vulgarisation of the revolution”.

“There is an attempt to vulgarise the monopoly capital debate; today vocabulary talks about white monopoly capital. It is vulgarisation of the revolution. We then use that vulgarised terminology to deal with each other.”

On corruption, he said: “There is no formula for dealing with corruption other than arrest, prosecute and convict.” He lamented the prevailing perception in the country that the ANC had abandoned its mantra of “Aluta continua”, which has since been replaced with “the looting continues”.

Friedman said it was puzzling that some thought Mantashe had sided with Zuma all along, when the opposite was true.

“He has been coming out clearly for two years at least,” said Friedman.

“He is the secretary-general of the ANC, so he has to defend the official ANC positions, but he had constantly distanced himself from Zuma and has been mentioned as a deputy president candidate on the Ramaphosa slate.”

Mathekga said Mantashe was gearing up for a higher position in the post-Zuma ANC and beyond.

“He has taken a [position] against Zuma. It also has to do with his desirability to be part of the next leadership of the party. This requires that he distances himself from the current leadership of the party,” Mathekga said.

“I am not sure if people would consider him a genuine alternative to something that he has been part of for such a long time.”

By not clearly indicating he will be standing for any future position Mantashe, who was the only ANC top leader who was not booed at the Cosatu May Day rallies, has opened the way for the pro-Zuma “Premier League” proponents – Ace Magashule of Free State and Mpumalanga’s David Mabuza – to vigorously pursue their plan to take over from Mantashe as party secretary-general.

Mathekga said the Gupta-embedded Zuma camp planned to take all the crucial top positions in the ANC, especially the top six, to control policy direction. Magashule and Mabuza, and North West premier Supra Mahumapelo, are staunch Zuma supporters and friends of the wealthy Guptas.

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane’s spokesperson, Mabine Seabe, said it didn’t matter whether the ANC leader was Cyril Ramaphosa, Mantashe or Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the ruling party would remain a corrupt criminal network.

“Whoever [becomes] leader, that leader would be the head of a mafia network. The ANC is no longer interested in building a better SA but is only interested in looting and making themselves rich. Come 2019, the ANC will be removed by the people of SA and the Union Buildings will be occupied by a DA-led coalition,” he said.

– news@citizen.co.za