Motlanthe downplays ANC split

2008-10-03 14:40

Johannesburg - President Kgalema Motlanthe on Friday downplayed growing reports of a split in the ruling party, saying a splinter group could not pose a serious challenge.

Motlanthe told the Mail and Guardian newspaper that reports of a breakaway from the ruling African National Congress lacked substance, insisting any cabinet ministers "seeped in ANC traditions of struggle" would not join a splinter group.

"But even if there was a breakaway party I don't think it could challenge the presently ruling ANC," Motlanthe said.

Reports of a split intensified on Friday as two top party officials exchanged angry letters in the wake of former president Thabo Mbeki's axing by the ANC last month, which has laid bare the party's infighting.

In an open letter to the party, former ANC chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota - who quit his defence cabinet post out of loyalty to Mbeki - accused the party of "practices that are dangerous to the democracy" that many South Africans had struggled for.

Current transport minister Jeff Radebe called Lekota's letter "nothing but the last kicks of a dying horse".

ANC image

Despite the bitter public feuding, Motlanthe insisted that the controversy over Mbeki's ouster had not damaged the image of the party that led the struggle against apartheid and brought Nelson Mandela as president.

"It does not necessarily follow that these problems severely damage the image of the ANC. Rather I think they are ... a healthy sign at the political level of a growing, maturing, engaging and vigorous democracy," Motlanthe told the paper.

Talk of a split emerged after the party's national conference last year when Jacob Zuma toppled Mbeki as ANC leader, the culmination of years of political wrangling between them.

Zuma and his allies in the party then ordered Mbeki to step down as president on September 20, following a court ruling that implied he had interfered in the prosecution of corruption charges against the party boss.

The appointment of Motlanthe as Mbeki's replacement last week was welcomed as a smart move by the ANC, with the former union boss praised for his cool-headed approach to political disputes.

But Motlanthe's government is expected to be short lived as the country prepares for elections next year, when he is tipped to hand the reins over to Zuma.

'There is no alternative'

The ANC holds nearly 70% of the seats in parliament, and analysts say the lack of a significant opposition has left moderate and middle-class blacks questioning their long-held allegiance to the party.

Zuma said in a letter to the nation on Friday that the party would work to regain the trust of voters ahead of the polls.

"We ... will now work flat out to renew and build the organisation and prepare for an overwhelming victory in the 2009," he said.

"Nobody has a better programme than the ANC for the social and economic transformation of this country," he added. "We will prove that there is no alternative to the ANC."

- AFP