Mbeki the first leader to recognise the danger of ANC’s death – analysts

Despite being pushed down at Polokwane and abruptly recalled from state office, today the short-statured Thabo Mbeki is not only the last “old ANC” man standing, but he stands tall as the voice of conscience in the troubled party.

Senior political experts believe the ANC has been engaging former president Mbeki and seeking his wisdom because it is facing a bleak future and they see him as a voice of reason to help revive the party.

Political analyst Professor Tinyiko Maluleke said the ANC had no option but to look to someone of Mbeki’s calibre to bring sanity to the party. Also, the ANC structures were keen to invite Mbeki to their events because he was an engaging speaker.

“Of course when the chips are down for the party, it will always look for a voice of reason, ” he said.

Mbeki commands attention

Maluleke believed Mbeki was engaged by President Cyril Ramaphosa to be part of the ANC renewal project because he was a highly respected former leader and an elder.

“He commands attention. I think that since Ramaphosa came to power, Mbeki became active after he lay low when Zuma was president because the change between them was not smooth.

“Mbeki’s voice is sounding more strained these days. There is alarm in his voice because of the problems the party is going through,” said Maluleke, who believed renewal was possible in the ANC, although unity was in doubt.

ALSO READ: No party in SA has the ability to destroy a renewed ANC – Mbeki

He said Mbeki’s statement that if the ANC failed to renew itself, it would die, made him sit up because that was significant.

“That statement has not come from an ANC leader in a long time. That’s quite significant thinking and an admission that the party could die if it does not wake up and do something.

“He is the first ANC leader to recognise the danger of the ANC’s death,” Maluleke said.

Both Maluleke and another analyst, Prof Dirk Kotze from the University of South Africa, praised Mbeki for doing a great job towards achieving ANC renewal. At the memorial service of ANC stalwart Rita Ndzanga this week, Mbeki was confident that the ANC would succeed in renewing itself – and he went further, saying a renewed ANC will never be defeated.

The governing party is not corrupt but has corrupt people within itself and it must get rid of those people, he said. The analysts dismissed the notion that Mbeki had become the de facto ANC president because of Ramaphosa’s perceived absence.

‘ANC is sleeping’

Maluleke said it was a perception that Ramaphosa was an absent president, because he always attended ANC meetings and addressed conferences of party structures. Ramaphosa was more available for the party activities than Mbeki and Nelson Mandela, who were frequently abroad.

“But I think Mbeki has his own motivation – he believes the ANC is sleeping, is going backwards and there is a responsibility for the elder generation to become active and involved in its renewal,” Kotze said.

The reality is also, though, that Mbeki might not be seen favourably by those in the party who remember that he did not build unity while he was at the helm.

ALSO READ: Mbeki warns ANC not to dismiss sentiments that SA is on auto-pilot

The Zuma faction would still regard him as an opponent and for the left he was a proponent of the 1996 Class Project over the introduction of the neoliberal Growth, Economic and Redistribution strategy.

According to Kotze, Mbeki was hurt to see the ANC going down and felt obliged to come forward and do something about. While Mbeki effectively boycotted party activities during the tenure of Zuma, he has had been attending all ANC meetings since Ramaphosa was elected.

– ericn@citizen.co.za