Ugly+message+in+ANC+slide+towards+Polokwane,+Brown,+B+Day



=**Ugly message in ANC’s slide towards Polokwane**=


 * Karima Brown, Business Day, 11 December 2007**

The underhand tactics being employed to secure the presidency of the African National Congress (ANC) in Polokwane are unbecoming a national liberation movement, and a sad indictment of the state of the party.

The poor form shown by the party’s top brass in handling the fallout from the succession battle says much about the quality of leadership in the ANC, and surely makes the best case of all for the urgent need for change at the top.

Never before have the stakes in the ANC been this high. Most especially since whoever emerges victorious in Polokwane will automatically be in the driving seat to determine who heads the government after the general elections in 2009.

One ANC grandee reminded me last week that one of the reasons why the ANC’s presidential fight is so fierce and so ugly is because winning will serve as a “stepping stone” to attaining state power — which in turn will place in the hands of the victor the power not only to formulate political, economic and social policy, but also to influence economic largesse for the inheritor class.

Last week the ANC was rocked by allegations of “votes for cash” in the run-up to the all-important elections. Persistent rumours that delegates are being intimidated to change their vote at the conference are also doing the rounds.

In addition, the use of state resources in the ANC’s internal squabbles became even more apparent when key cabinet figures used their positions in the government to further President Thabo Mbeki’s ambitions.

A march for gender equity last week, under the guise of the government’s campaign of 16 days of no violence against women and children, turned into a pro-Mbeki third-term mass rally.

Mbeki was interviewed live on 15 SABC radio stations and asked the most outrageously sweetheart questions by the public broadcaster’s new political editor. If rumours are to be believed, Mbeki was apparently so bored by the SABC farce that he dashed from the studios an hour before the scheduled time was up.

But perhaps the best example of how bad things have become can be illustrated by an SMS that was sent to a member of Business Day’s political team on Saturday.

“I see the three musketeers are trying very hard to bury the Chief’s prospects,” it begins. “It’s no longer having any impact because everyone knows that Business Day’s political coverage of the ANC conference has positioned itself as an advocate of some candidate’s aspirations.

“Anything that has the name of your ‘sister leader’ attached to it is naturally viewed with suspicion, no integrity at all. Your Weekender lead today is a well-cooked piece of fabricated rubbish. I see the ‘bereaved’ office bearer in that province is also playing along.

“Anyway your paper is read by the upper middle class of ANC society, most of whom are unrepentant in their convictions, such as MYSELF. Your sources should rather consider giving their trash to papers that cover some ground like the Daily Sun.

“So simply put: It’s not working! I hope you well Ms Musgrave. Don’t forget to invite me to your wedding!”

This SMS was sent by ANC spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso to one of the three journalists who wrote the lead story in Business Day’s sister newspaper, The Weekender, which chronicled the fight-back campaign by backers of Mbeki’s attempt to hold onto power in the ANC for a third term.

Ironically, Rikhotso’s attempt to rubbish me (aka the “sister leader”) only serves to expose his own bias. He is meant to be the ANC’s spokesman and not the personal lapdog of the “Chief” (read Mbeki).

Rikhotso’s bullying tactics are, of course, nothing new. I have it on good authority that he enjoys sending threatening messages to other political reporters. What is worrying is the audacity of the SMS, which provides clear proof that he is not doing the work of the ANC but rather that of a faction within the party.

Perhaps with the stakes so high at Polokwane next week, it is inevitable that dirty tricks will be employed in the next few days, wherever possible.


 * Brown is political editor


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A657727**

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