New Leader for South Africa

by Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

(September 23, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) South Africa's ruling African National Congress party (ANC) on 22 Sept named its deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, left-leaning intellectual who has never sought the limelight, as head of state until elections are held in seven months' time after President Thabo Mbeki bowed to pressure and announced his resignation on Sept 21. A spokesman for the ANC parliamentary caucus said after a meeting between the party and lawmakers that "Motlanthe will be the president, not interim, he will be the president of the republic until the election".If confirmed, it would be a meteoric rise for Motlanthe, who only became an MP in May. However he has impeccable ANC credentials; Motlanthe spent much of the 1980s jailed on Ruben Island along with Nelson Mandela. He was made ANC secretary general in 1997 and became the party's number two in December, at the same time as Jacob Zuma was elected party leader.

The new president will hold the post until elections are held in early 2009, which Zuma is widely expected to win.

Party above People?

Thabo Mbeki, 66, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as South African president in June 1999, became the country's first democratically-elected president to be forced out of office before the end of his term. Mbeki resigned over claims of political interference in a corruption case against Zuma. He denies the allegations but said he was stepping down at the request of the ANC in the interests of party unity. Commentators say it was one of the most difficult decisions in the ANC's history. Mbeki announced in a live television address on Sept 21 Sunday that he had tendered his resignation to speaker of parliament Baleka Mbete after his ruling ANC party called for him to step down in the interests of party unity. He said his resignation is "effective from a day that will be determined by the national assembly". The decision would only be announced when parliament meets - at some point in the next week - to vote on the appointment.

The decision came after a week of pressure following a September 12 court ruling that threw out a corruption case against Mbeki's political rival Jacob Zuma, and a judge hinted that Mbeki's government had interfered in the decision to prosecute the ANC chief. But during his television address, Mbeki made an impassioned defense of his position. Neither he nor his cabinet had made any attempt to meddle with the judicial process, he said, and he dismissed any suggestion he had been trying to shape the judgment for his own political ends. The court ruling that all but sealed Mbeki's fate also cleared Zuma of corruption charges, paving the way for his bid to become South Africa's president in 2009.

Punishment?

The ANC says the call for Mbeki to resign was not an act of retribution, but a bid to unite the party behind one leader ahead of polls next year. Mbeki's term had been due to expire in mid-2009, and he has been largely seen as a lame duck president since losing the leadership of his party to Zuma at a key ANC conference in December. ANC General Secretary Gwede Mantashe said the decision to ask for Mbeki's resignation was taken to avoid divisions in the party. A united ANC, Mantashe says, is good for the country and it ensures that there is certainty and predictability, that is important for the markets. He said Zuma would not take over immediately but would wait for general elections when, if voted in, he would be "a people's president". Mantashe has said the resignation call was not a punishment for Mbeki and that the president would be given the chance to continue his role as mediator in Zimbabwe.

The ANC wanted the current cabinet to stay in place for stability, after speculation Mbeki loyalists may follow him in tendering their resignation. South African newspapers saluted the outgoing president's dignified exit -- but had harsher words for the party that had sacrificed him. A defiant President Mbeki has bowed down from office, proclaiming his innocence while pledging loyalty to the organization that unceremoniously ousted him as head of state," the Star newspaper reported.

The parliament will vote on the president in the next few days. Under the South African constitution, the president is appointed by parliament, which has been dominated by the ANC since the end of apartheid and the start of majority rule in May 1994. South African leader Nelson Mandela fought a long war against apartheid and gained freedom and established the new state and this peaceful transfer of power stands testimony to the leadership quality that Mandela seems to gave espoused to his party people and the decision to change the leadership has been taken by keeping party interests about the people. Undoubtedly the statesmanship of Mandela gets reflected in the ANC decision to accelerate party to the poll. ANC party chief Zuma promised a smooth transition between leaders.

Under-currents

In 2001 President Mbeki had sent his minister of safety and security to accuse three leading members of the party of plotting to oust him. The accused - former ANC secretary-general, Cyril Ramaphosa and two former provincial premiers, Tokyo Sexwale and Mathews Phosa ­- were among the party's most respected figures. All three were men who had driven to seek their fortunes in business after being marginalized by Mbeki. These three have wielded the knife against Thabo Mbeki.

The ANC is in a formal alliance with two groups on the left, the Communists and the trade union movement, Cosatu. Both were fiercely critical of the neo-liberal economic strategy known as Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) and argued that they had been excluded from its development and implementation. Thabo Mbeki, although a former member of the South African Communist Party, has used conventional economic policies to drive the country's development agenda. This included commitments to open markets, privatization and a favorable investment climate. Tight monetary and budgetary targets have been set and met. The result has been a period of unprecedented economic growth, reaching 5% a year in recent years. The left wings are unhappy with the reckless privatization.

However, the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said Zuma had "got what he wanted" from Mbeki's resignation. Zuma wanted "a political solution to his legal problems". Party leader Helen Zille Party leader Helen Zille said this also applied to the "painful matter" of corruption charges against Zuma. Mbeki fired Zuma as deputy president in 2005 after his financial adviser was found guilty of soliciting a bribe on his behalf. But Zuma returned to the political stage to topple his rival as ANC leader in bitterly contested elections last year.

A Word

All said and done, certainly it is unprecedented in South African history that a head of state is dismissed in this way. If this shroud political move helps the ANC to win the forthcoming polls, then every thing is well and good. - Sri Lanka Guardian