Zuma+camp+coup,+sama+Yende+and+Msomi,+City+Press

City Press, Johannesburg, 28/04/2007 20:33 - (SA)
=Zuma camp coup=


 * Sizwe sama Yende and S'Thembiso Msomi**

THE loyal lieutenants of Jacob Zuma were out in force in Limpopo yesterday.

They were there to ensure a “coup” against a select group of leaders in the Young Communist League (YCL). The group is seen to be supportive of President Thabo Mbeki.

This follows news that the SA Communist Party had also called for the dissolution of its provincial structure in Limpopo. The body is also seen to be pro-Mbeki.

The YCL held its congress amid intense lobbying in Seshego, near Polokwane, yesterday. Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal are key to Zuma’s hopes of being elected ANC president in December.

A source said the Zuma lobby group relied heavily on YCL national secretary Buti Manamela. It needed him to ensure an emphatic victory in a key province for Zuma for the much-awaited December Limpopo ANC elective congress. The results of the YCL voting were not available at the time of going to press.

Earlier in the day, Manamela told delegates that the YCL supported the SACP’s resolution to dissolve its provincial executive committee (PEC). He said the PEC would be dissolved because it allegedly failed to implement the party’s programmes like Red October Month and had defied its national leadership by holding a “political school” (a lecture) last year.

Held in Polokwane, the political school was addressed by Mbeki. Manamela said the matter was being attended to by the party’s central committee.

“It does not matter that the president (Thabo Mbeki) was there (at the political school). The PEC defied a decision of the central committee to postpone the political school as it had not consulted the committee on what would be needed to run it successfully,” he said.

“The PEC has also not lived up to expectations. It has not been able to do one of our critical campaigns, the Red October Month.”

The SACP and the YCL in Limpopo are seen to support Mbeki in the fierce leadership struggle for the ANC presidency.

Conference delegates said Manamela’s reasons were seen as a smokescreen. His real mission was to purge the YCL of people seen as Mbeki supporters and to consolidate support for Zuma.

Manamela said the YCL would not be dictated to on whom to elect as ANC president.

In a veiled reference to Mbeki, Manamela said: “No clique discussing in a smoke-filled room and drinking whisky will tell us who to elect at the ANC 52nd conference.”

The latest developments in the succession battle occurred in a week when Mbeki and other top ANC leaders sat quietly for hours as members of the KwaZulu-Natal PEC accused them of “failing to provide leadership” in the Jacob Zuma crisis.

Several PEC members who attended the meeting said it was characterised by “frank engagement” on the issues with KZN leaders “pouring their hearts out”.

City Press understands that Mbeki, secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe, national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota and treasurer-general Mendi Msimang were shocked by some of the charges levelled against them.

Zuma had left the meeting early and did not hear many of the complaints. It is believed this was to allow the discussion, which centred on him, to take place freely.

The PEC had initially requested the meeting at the height of the political crisis.

But due to several reasons, the leaders could only go to the province this week.

Among the accusations levelled against Mbeki and others at the meeting were that:


 * They had “failed to make the party the political centre” by allowing important issues, such as Zuma’s expulsion and the hoax email saga, to be dealt with at government level.
 * The national leaders were quick to point fingers without hearing the province’s side of the story. The meeting quoted the example of Mbeki’s remarks on TV about a Sunday newspaper story about a “plot” to create “no-go areas” for him.
 * Mbeki’s visits to provinces such as the Western Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga – where he is reported to have “explained” his reasons for expelling Zuma – created “the impression that the national leadership was not united”. PEC members said Mbeki should have taken other officials – especially Zuma – to these gatherings to avoid suspicions.
 * Since Zuma was not facing any court action, national leaders should take the process from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and “deal with it politically”.

The meeting began at 10am with provincial premier and chairperson Sbu Ndebele providing the background to political infighting in the province.

He spoke of his conflict with ANC provincial deputy, Zweli Mkhize, and how they had resolved their differences after a 15-hour heart-to-heart talk.

This, he said, was followed by a similar engagement among all other provincial leaders who had taken sides in the conflict.

The underlying message of his 30-minute-long speech seemed to be that without talks between Zuma and Mbeki, the factional fighting in the ANC would not end.

After him, provincial secretary Senzo Mchunu took the floor.

He explained why the province had invited the leaders. He spoke of the many efforts by the provincial leadership to defuse their members’ anger after Zuma was expelled from the cabinet.

Then “the floodgates opened” with PEC members attacking the national leadership.

A PEC member lambasted the office-bearers for threatening disciplinary action against certain members while they kept quiet when one of their own, deputy secretary-general Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, allegedly “brought the party into disrepute”.

This related to her alleged remarks in an interview after the 2005 National General Council.

She had said that delegates were “misled” when they rebelled against the National Working Committee’s decision to allow Zuma to step down from his ANC duties.

“We asked why she was not disciplined. We said, ‘If you want to fix the organisation, you have to fix it on all fronts.’

“Why is it right for the president to express his willingness to stand for re-election if approached, but declare it wrong for others to express themselves on the issue?” said a PEC member who attended the meeting. ANC eThekwini regional secretary, John Mchunu, seen as one of Zuma’s strongest backers, told Mbeki the Mahatma Gandhi Centenary celebrations debacle at Durban’s Kingsmead stadium last year was due to poor government planning.

He said scores of people had arrived at the stadium at about 9am and waited for hours before giving up and leaving the venue as Mbeki and his entourage had not arrived.

Mbeki and India’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, only arrived at the stadium at about 4pm.

Transport MEC and eThekwini regional chairperson Bheki Cele spoke of his role in the affair. He denied claims that they had encouraged people to embarrass the president by leaving the stadium.

He had forced one group out of the stadium because it had become rowdy after realising Zuma was not among the guests.

PEC members were still airing their views at 4.30pm when the leaders asked for a break.

On their return 30 minutes later, Motlanthe took the stage.

He admitted that the ANC had not handled some of the issues relating to the Zuma saga well. He said the party had learnt from its mistakes. Lekota spoke after him.

Mbeki was the last to speak. He defended the manner in which he had dealt with Zuma’s removal, saying he had done this after consulting Motlanthe, Nelson Mandela and other senior leaders.

He also stressed that he would not interfere with the NPA’s work as this would be unconstitutional and against ANC practice.

A source told City Press that Mbeki had said he wanted to return to the province for a further briefing because he felt there was much “miscommunication” between national leaders and the province. But others said the remarks were made in reference to steps that were being taken in the party to halt the Zuma crisis.

“The president said, based on his observations, that there were things we do not know that we should know about what the national leadership is doing about these issues. He said they would come back to the province another time and explain those processes,” said a PEC member.

Meanwhile, Eastern Cape ANC chairperson Stone Sizani put Mbeki on the spot in the province this week by asking if he would avail himself for a third term as party leader.

While introducing Mbeki at a ceremony to open new party offices, Sizani said: “Comrades, you requested me to speak to the president (and ask him to stand for another term). I’ve done that and here is the president, he will respond.”

Mbeki said, as an ANC member, he would do what people asked him to do.

“We were born in the struggle and this organisation and (we) will die in this organisation,” he said.

He said if people deployed him to any position in the party, he would not defy them.

Mbeki, announced by the province as its preferred presidential candidate last year, did not specifically accept the province’s conference resolution or repudiate it.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/City_Press/News/0,,186-187_2106193,00.html**

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