What+falls+by+the+wayside+in+fight+for+ANC,+Karima+Brown,+B+Day



=**What falls by the wayside in fight to control ANC**=

Karima Brown, Business Day, 30 October 2007
While the history of the African National Congress (ANC) in exile should not be mythologised, it has always managed to rally the party when its unity and survival are tested. But that was then.

Today’s divisions in the party transcend disagreements over policy, political direction and personality. In essence, the extra dimension is the control of state and economic resources.

With just 48 days before the ANC’s elective conference in December, judging by the mood among the various factions, as well as a cursory look at the balance of forces in the ruling party, everything points to an organisation in which the centre no longer holds. The frontrunners in the party’s presidential election race — President Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma — still appear determined to rout each other on the conference floor, confident their supporters would have done the necessary work to secure victory.

This despite an 11th-hour bid by some prominent members of the cabinet, and veteran ANC member Kader Asmal’s bullish effort at the weekend, to ensure the nomination of ANC businessman Cyril Ramaphosa as another candidate.

While Ramaphosa’s endorsement by senior members of Mbeki’s cabinet sends a definite message to the president that they do not endorse his bid for a third term, it matters little to the Zuma camp, which is not counting on support from the cabinet anyway. But even if Ramaphosa accepts the nomination, he and Tokyo Sexwale are still way behind in the race and lack critical mass. For his part, Sexwale has used what remains of campaigning time to impress upon potential backers that he will not be a proxy for Mbeki and appears determined to put as much distance between himself and the chief as possible. This makes any potential deal between him and Mbeki’s supporters all the more unlikely. It also does not bode well for Sexwale’s ambition to be considered as a potential presidential candidate in 2009, in the event that Mbeki retains control of the ANC in December.

As for Ramaphosa, if he does finally accept the nomination, his will have to be a Herculean effort, with some deft manoeuvring that will have to make it worth the while of those who have thrown in their lot with Zuma or Mbeki. Unless the Mbeki or Zuma factions throw their lot in with one of the two businessmen candidates, everything points to a race that will be fought down to the last man and woman standing, with either Mbeki or Zuma emerging victorious.

Granted, the battle for power and control of the party was always going to be bloody and messy, with casualties on all sides. All the more so given that power brokers and factions are making promises to potential supporters, including promising lucrative government tenders and positions in return for votes should their man win.

But what of the damage done to the broader body politic, and the very state institutions the ANC helped establish in 1994, as people jockey for power and positions? Already we see crucial state institutions, such as the security agencies, partly paralysed by the ANC infighting.

The latest allegations linking the new director-general of the National Intelligence Agency to violent abuse, so shortly after Mbeki’s fallout with his predecessor, Billy Masetlha, coupled with the unceremonious manner in which National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli was removed from his job, speaks to a general malaise in the public service that has nothing to do with the lack of skills and everything to do with political patronage and party affiliation.

ANC members in government already speak dispiritedly of how key positions in departments stand empty because interviewing panels can’t agree whether potential employees are “Mbeki or Zuma” people. Many talented people in the public service are hedging their bets and looking for greener pastures because of the uncertainty around the fracas. So while everyone’s focus is on securing “their man”, who is going to take a long view taking into account the daunting challenges facing whoever emerges the “winner”?

Whatever the outcome of the leadership fracas, the scene is set for near-permanent conflict and constitutional crises in the crucial 18-month period until the 2009 general election.


 * Brown is political editor.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A599979**

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