ANCYL turns on Motlanthe
2008-08-30 22:26
Caiphus Kgosana and Makhudu Sefara
Johannesburg - The divisions within the ANC faction that threw its weight behind embattled party leader Jacob Zuma have spilt into the open.
The ANC Youth League (ANCYL), considered kingmakers in the party, has told ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe not to behave as if Zuma is "no more".
Motlanthe's face-off with the ANCYL is the clearest form of division in the camp, which was united in its bid to oust President Thabo Mbeki as ANC leader.
This could lead to the marginalisation of Motlanthe, who was considered an alternative president should Zuma fail in his bid to avoid the wrath of the law.
The stand-off stemmed from Motlanthe's statements that the ANCYL, party leaders and tripartite alliance partners should respect the judiciary and desist from attacking institutions meant to prop up the country's fledgling democracy.
This went against the mass of Zuma supporters, who said the judiciary was counter-revolutionary, persecuted Zuma for more than seven years and should be forced to drop the corruption and fraud charges against him.
Motlanthe's statements also came in the wake of a decision by the SA Communist Party central committee to seek a "political solution" to the charges brought against Zuma by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Returning fire with fire, the ANCYL said Motlanthe behaved like a "paragon of political correctness who is beyond reproach", appeared to have a "hotline" to the media, unleashed "unmandated attacks", had a political agenda, and behaved as if he was already president of the party.
"Going around affirming the independence of the criminal justice system on the case of the ANC president is worrisome. A political case can only require a political solution," said ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu.
Suggesting Motlanthe would not say a word against Mbeki when he was ANC president, Shivambu said: "He was not as assertive as he's becoming recently.
"It looks like there's a new-found energy to speak on issues. He had the space and time to articulate and re-assert his authority as secretary-general of the ANC, but he did not do that."
SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande, in an interview with City Press, said many people were angry at how Zuma was treated and only a political solution could pull the country back from the brink of disaster.
When he was asked why a political review should involve the NPA, which is a legal constitutional structure tasked with enforcing the law, Nzimande said the NPA put itself in a "political corner" and its "conduct has been political".
Asked if a political solution would not prejudice Zuma further, given his protestations that he was not guilty of the charges he faces, Nzimande said "nothing will prejudice Zuma further".
He said the arguments by "latter-day defenders of the Constitution", such as Kader Asmal and Raymond Suttner, that the case should just be put to Zuma and he should answer to it, conveniently overlooked the "blatant manipulation of Zuma's rights. What is the point of having a Bill of Rights? This [if countenanced] will be the rule of the jungle".
Nzimande did not mention Motlanthe by name, but he said the SACP, Cosatu and the ANC would work even harder to ensure the case against Zuma was dropped.
The SA Democratic Teachers Union in KwaZulu-Natal last week called for the charges to be dropped and the ANC in eThekwini took to the streets, demanding that the case be struck from the roll.
A member of the national working committee said: "Motlanthe is getting power-drunk. He creates the impression that all of us are a mad mob and that only he is a saviour, the sole voice of reason, and that he's better than all of us.
"This is the same mistake that Mbeki, in his power-drunkenness, made and we showed him the door.
"Perhaps the problem is that Motlanthe spends too much time with Mbeki and is advised by Mbeki loyalists such as Ebrahim Rasool," said the source.
When asked if the exchanges had done irreparable damage, the source said: "The truth is that the Youth League, and also many of us, love Motlanthe even when we take pain from him."
He said future relations would depend on Motlanthe's reaction.
Joe Teffo, a political analyst with the University of Limpopo, said on Saturday that Motlanthe was a moderating voice in a climate where belligerence had come to characterise some of the people and structures that claimed to support Zuma.
"In the process, they are doing more damage to the ANC and to Zuma's cause. It was always bound to happen that at one stage they would lock horns with Motlanthe."
Teffo said the destruction of democratic institutions by the Zuma group would eventually harm them and make it difficult for Zuma to hit the ground running, were he to become president.
Professor Adam Habib, from the University of Johannesburg, concurred. He said he was surprised that the league would publicly criticise Motlanthe in the "harsh manner" that it did.
"These kinds of statements create an impression that the party's leadership is not coherent, that it's not a cohesive leadership, and that is a dangerous message to send out during an election period," he said, adding it was too early to tell if Motlanthe's stance on issues could harm his presidential ambitions in the long run.
The ANCYL will meet the party's top six officials on Monday.
"We are waiting patiently to understand the intentions and agenda of the deputy president in attacking the Youth League in the media," said Shivambu.