No+ambitions+for+highest+office,+Xundu+and+Malefane,+Sunday+Times

Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 08 October 2006
=No ambitions for highest office=


 * XOLANI XUNDU and MOIPONE MALEFANE**

ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe who, until now, has been touted widely in ANC circles as a strong “compromise” candidate to succeed President Thabo Mbeki when he quits office in 2009, says he has no presidential ambitions.

Motlanthe, who is also viewed as one of the key men behind embattled ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma’s political fortunes, finally broke his silence this week and told the Sunday Times that “in the history of the ANC you cannot have a secretary-general who has an ambition to any other position [presidency].

“If you have that, you will then have a secretary-general who is involved in plotting against other people.

“In my position you cannot have ambitions, otherwise you cannot succeed in holding the organisation together,” he told the Sunday Times.

He said the responsibility of holding the organisation together was one of the central tasks of an ANC secretary-general and this meant to always “accurately and as faithfully as possible” reflect the views of the membership. This could be construed as ambition for political office.

He cited, as an example, how former president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, who was also general secretary of the Polit Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev, disbanded the party in 1991 when it had a membership of 21 million.

“Out of that membership, no one rose in defence of the party. What that means is that there was no party anymore; it had long died. Principle was no longer followed, but members depended on the relationship with party secretary in determining their social standing and fortunes,” said Motlanthe.

Motlanthe has been seen to be unwavering in his support for Zuma during the majority of his court appearances. And he has not shied away from people who have fallen out with Mbeki.

For example, he firmly stood behind former National Intelligence Agency Director-General Billy Masetlha, who was found to have engineered the “fabricated” e-mails purporting to be a conversation between senior ANC members who were plotting to politically destroy him and Zuma.

After an official investigation, the e-mails were dismissed as hoaxes by the Inspector-General of Intelligence, Zolile Ngcakani, and this led to Masetlha’s axing.

However, the ANC, on Motlanthe’s insistence, established a parallel investigation to look into the e-mails. It has yet to make its findings.

Last week, Motlanthe again ruffled feathers when he told the ANC provincial general council in Limpopo that the ANC had always had problems but “today people bring artificial standards to the ANC and make them a precondition to the membership of the ANC”.

In what many interpreted as a veiled reference to Mbeki’s dismissal of Zuma from Cabinet even before he was charged by the courts of law, Motlanthe said: “We put ourselves under pressure to act before the law takes its course. These are artificial standards that we have introduced.

“If I pronounce, act or intervene to solve a difficulty, I should ask if these will enhance unity before acting. Sometimes you think you are in the right and pay no attention to what will happen.

“The movement is more important than individual members and than all of us. We found it here and will leave it here,” he said.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Sunday Times at the party’s Luthuli House headquarters this week, Motlanthe candidly spoke about, among others, the Zuma saga and his suspicions of political interference in the work of the National Prosecuting Authority. He also reflected on the state of the ANC.

__On Zuma and the NPA__
“There are several layers of the problem here. Zuma was charged for rape and the judge said he was falsely accused and rejected evidence by the state ... Anywhere in the world the investigating officer would have reached a ceiling [in his career] or be fired. Is that a true reflection of their capabilities?

“The decision to charge him was not informed by evidence. It appears that a decision to charge him was taken and then police were sent to investigate. There is a similar pattern in both [Zuma] cases.

“The Directorate of Special Operations has investigators and prosecutors [located in the NPA]. Perhaps that is where the problem is. You charge someone and then evidence is constructed. This will not pass cross-examination in court.

“The second layer of the problem is that there could be political interference from whatever level.”

Motlanthe said members of the ANC said “Zuma was treated unfairly and they did something about it. The NPA is powerful and can treat anyone shabbily. Zuma was not involved in the arms deal as an individual but government was.

“Freedom fighters are defined by one attribute, generosity, to lay [down] your life for the good of all. If you are a public representative and you do not feel the pain of others, it will show. That means you will do the barest minimum required by the law in terms of democracy and legality.

“Once people perceive an injustice and do nothing, it means all your rights will be whittled away and nobody will raise a finger.”

__On being labelled a Zuma supporter__
“Once people view a person as a threat, it is easy to label him. If something is not right I have to say so, irrespective of your social standing. Mine is to reflect the views of the members, whether some people like it or not.

“The party’s national general council held in July last year took a decision to support Zuma and rejected his request to be recused from ANC activities while facing a corruption trial. The membership and the NEC were at one in this decision.

“The challenge faced by the ANC was to create space for people to express their opinions on any matter, without fear or favour.

“It was worrying that there were NEC members who never expressed their views on any matter that matters. They feared that because they were appointed to certain positions, then they owed their fortunes to the people who appointed them.

“This is what led to the demise of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union and the ANC has to guard against that.”

__On Mbeki’s silence on divisions crippling the party__
“He has to be above all contradictions. If all fails, the membership would say: ‘Now is the time for his intervention and leadership.’

“The fact that members link him to this — that has to be corrected. It is untoward. He cannot be involved in tussles and tackles with individuals because some of them are tough and they might break his leg.

“It was a duty of the secretary- general and other leaders to attend to some of the problems besetting the ANC.”

__On leadership challenges facing the party__
Characterising problems besetting the ANC as generational, Motlanthe said “there was a difference between members who joined the party in the 1940s and 1950s and the younger generation, which joined after the 1960s, when the ANC was banned and also those who joined in 1990.

“The latter group tended to use a militaristic approach on anything. They are impatient, while the older generation understands the ANC much better. The young ones are quick to label and dismiss those they do not agree with.

“The problem with the ANC at the moment was that not many of its cadres were prepared to do political education because of the pressures of being a ruling party. Discussion documents were drafted by the political education committee but no political education was happening at grass-root level.

“As a result, there is impatience and an illusion that you can manipulate the ANC. Some think we can sit here and decide who ANC leaders should be.

“It is only after the party’s policy conference, after having spelt out its challenges for the next 10 years, that branches would be asked to nominate a leadership collective who they feel would be able to lead the organisation in achieving those strategic goals.

“One of the most important strategic objectives of the ANC was to unite South Africans, irrespective of their colour or political parties they belonged to. That unity was something the party treasured and any attempts, be they ethnic and racist, to work against it would not survive or be tolerated.

“One serious omission we have made in the last 12 years is failure to establish a Chapter Nine institution to write the history of this country. That history does not have to dance to the whims of certain people; you write it accurately.

“What it means is that you will recognise the contribution of everyone. The ANC is but one player in the history of South Africa. Future generations need a point of reference that they can identify with when seeking solutions to challenges.”


 * From: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=ST6A211638**

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