tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post273605352748665227..comments2024-03-24T20:40:46.666-04:00Comments on Pan-African News Wire: ANC Elects New Leadership at National Conference in Polokwane, South
AfricaPan-African News Wirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-50747528151666885632007-12-19T15:18:00.000-05:002007-12-19T15:18:00.000-05:00Defeat of South Africa's Mbeki stuns his heartland...Defeat of South Africa's Mbeki stuns his heartland<BR/><BR/>Wed 19 Dec 2007, 16:15 GMT<BR/>By Francis Mdlongwa<BR/>GRAHAMSTOWN, South Africa<BR/><BR/>(Reuters) - Stunned supporters of South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday he had brought defeat on himself in the contest for leadership of the ruling ANC.<BR/><BR/>A day after Mbeki's bitter rival Jacob Zuma took over as ANC head, Mbeki's followers in the Eastern Cape, his power base and heartland of his Xhosa tribe, could hardly believe that he and all his party lieutenants had been swept from power.<BR/><BR/>"How could he allow this to happen to him? Being humiliated like this," said Phelela, an Mbeki supporter who declined to give her surname. <BR/><BR/>"We thought the president knew better than insisting on standing in these elections despite advice from colleagues not to do so," she said, her voice choking with emotion.<BR/><BR/>Mbeki went ahead with his bid for a third term as ANC leader despite strong predictions that he would be humiliated by Zuma. Now there are fears that he will be a lame duck for the remaining 18 months of his term as head of state. <BR/><BR/>Zoleka Mapasa, an office administrator in Grahamstown, blamed Mbeki's defeat on his "failure to keep in touch with the grass roots", and said even the Eastern Cape had found it necessary to desert him:<BR/><BR/>"He was out of touch with what was happening on the ground, but his opponent kept a close ear to the grass roots."<BR/><BR/>The Eastern Cape, a vast swathe of dry land flanking the Indian Ocean from Port Elizabeth in the south to Port Edward in the north, is the birthplace of Mbeki and his political mentor, Nelson Mandela, both from the ethnic Xhosa group that has long dominated the ANC.<BR/><BR/>Mbeki, head of the ANC since 1997, and his top five lieutenants all lost their places on the ANC executive in Tuesday's election.<BR/><BR/>In Grahamstown, a university town 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Port Elizabeth, many people were angry at the passing of the leadership to Zuma, a Zulu, when Mbeki has presided over nine years of unbroken economic growth.<BR/><BR/>"What can Zuma put on the table in terms of growing the economy except being a comrade?" Mapasa said.<BR/><BR/>Zuma's close ties with trade unions and the Communist Party, have sparked fears he will tilt South Africa to the left.<BR/><BR/>"I can't even imagine where we go to from here," Mapasa said.Pan-African News Wirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-85191437668335124802007-12-19T13:27:00.000-05:002007-12-19T13:27:00.000-05:00Victor, vanquished meet Thabo Mbeki and the new pr...Victor, vanquished meet <BR/><BR/>Thabo Mbeki and the new president of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, met to discuss the future of the party late on Tuesday night, ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said.<BR/><BR/>He was speaking on Wednesday minutes after Mbeki finished casting his votes for the party's new national executive.<BR/><BR/>Mbeki himself, who appeared relaxed and waved genially to watching delegates, declined to be drawn on the result of the bruising leadership contest.<BR/><BR/>Asked by a journalist how he was doing, he replied cheerfully: "All right, thanks... fine thanks."<BR/><BR/>Ngonyama said Tuesday's meeting took place in a holding room next to the vast marquee where the results of the battle for the leadership were announced.<BR/><BR/>"Yes, definitely, they have spoken. They spoke last night," he said.<BR/><BR/>"They sat down and they spoke about how to take forward our movement."<BR/><BR/>He said the meeting was <BR/>"reasonably long... for any two people who are talking serious business."<BR/><BR/>Quizzed on relations between the two men in the wake of the bitter election campaign, Ngonyama said they continued to relate "in the same old way".<BR/><BR/>"There can never be any animosity or acrimony between the two. They have come a long way: they... have been plus or minus 30 years together, so that's the kind of relationship, which is a long, long, relationship."<BR/><BR/>Ngonyama dismissed a suggestion that Mbeki might now call a general election ahead of the next scheduled poll in 2009, saying that as president of the country, Mbeki still held a mandate from millions of South Africans, won through the ballot in the last general election.<BR/><BR/>"That [an early poll] is completely out of the question at the present moment," he said.<BR/><BR/>He said the ANC and national presidencies were "two distinct processes", and it would be mischievous for anyone to deliberately conflate the two.<BR/><BR/>Mbeki, dressed casually, arrived at the voting station at the University of Limpopo library shortly before 5pm, and emerged 27 minutes later.<BR/><BR/>Though his arrival in his usual presidential convoy of black vehicles was low-key, a small crowd quickly assembled after hearing that he was there.<BR/><BR/>They applauded him as he emerged, and began chanting "ANC, ANC".<BR/><BR/>Mbeki waved and smiled warmly before getting back into his car and being whisked away.<BR/><BR/>As the crowd thinned after his departure one delegate asked why Mbeki was being cheered when he lost the election.<BR/><BR/>Another responded: "He has demonstrated the leadership that the ANC demands."<BR/><BR/>A Free State delegate, who voted for Zuma, said Mbeki had showed leadership in the way he associated with the newly elected top brass of the party.<BR/><BR/>"He is still showing leadership and he is still a member of the ANC," he said.<BR/><BR/>However, another delegate seemed to feel differently.<BR/><BR/>"Former president of the ANC," he remarked loudly to no-one in particular. "We want to see Jacob Zuma."<BR/><BR/>A delegate watching Mbeki come and go told Sapa he had taken over 15 minutes to fill out his own nomination form, which involved checking off 80 names on a list twice that long.<BR/><BR/>"I filled in all the names I wanted, and I still had names left," said the delegate, from Centurion in Gauteng. "So I had to go through the list again."<BR/><BR/>Mbeki himself is not on the list. As a former president of the party, he becomes an ex officio member of the executive. - Sapa <BR/><BR/>Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-12-19 18:54:23Pan-African News Wirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-71693406703247316862007-12-19T13:20:00.000-05:002007-12-19T13:20:00.000-05:00ANCYL opposed to early Mbeki exit Mail & Guardian...ANCYL opposed to early Mbeki exit <BR/> <BR/>Mail & Guardian Online reporter and Sapa<BR/>Polokwane, South Africa <BR/>19 December 2007 04:29 <BR/> <BR/>While welcoming the outcome of Tuesday night's election of Jacob Zuma as African National Congress (ANC) leader, the ANC Youth League has come out against the notion of President Thabo Mbeki stepping down as the country's president before 2009. <BR/><BR/>Only those not respecting the rules of the ANC would make such demands, the league's president, Fikile Mbalula, told a press briefing at the party's national conference in Polokwane on Wednesday. "We are not anarchists. The president must continue to play the role of leader and his experience must continue to be felt within the party." <BR/><BR/>He said the league will continue to "manage" relations between the party and the state until 2009.<BR/><BR/>Mbalula said "no major deviations" are expected from the resolutions the ANC made at its policy conference in June and those that will emerge from the Polokwane conference. This includes reflections on the "two centres of power", free education, the ANC president's term of office, gender parity and black economic empowerment. <BR/><BR/>When asked what would happen should Zuma be charged with corruption, Mbalula said that the ANC's new president is "innocent until proven guilty". <BR/><BR/>Welcoming the outcome of Tuesday's election, Mbalula called for unity in the ANC and said the interests of the movement must be placed before those of individuals. "We must defeat personal cult, vindictiveness, falsehood and slander among and about each other," he said. <BR/><BR/>He provoked laughter from journalists when he said: "Mbeki was made by the youth league and was removed by the youth league. That is how strong the youth league is."<BR/><BR/>He responded to fears of Zuma's election causing market jitters by saying that "nobody has died in South Africa", adding: "Nothing has changed [on the JSE]. South Africa is still a beautiful country." <BR/><BR/>On the future of the tripartite alliance and conflicting statements that have emerged from its members, Mbalula said the three partners agree on the need for unity. <BR/><BR/>In his organisational report presented earlier at the conference, ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe had referred to the alliance between the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the ANC as a "house divided". <BR/><BR/>Said Mbalula: "There's a general agreement within all structures that we unite the alliance." He called for "open engagement" between the three.<BR/><BR/>He added: "We expect our leadership to rise above petty tendencies and address the question of the rift [within the ANC, between Zuma and Mbeki camps]." <BR/><BR/>ANC Youth League spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said: "We've got to harness our differences so that [we] advance our overall goal of uniting the alliance."<BR/><BR/>Kodwa also responded to speculation that Zuma's election to the ANC's top post could see Mbalula promoted to a juicy government post. If this did happen, he said, it could not be considered a reward for Mbalula's support for Zuma. "So, tomorrow, if there's any deployment of Mbalula, [it can] not be interpreted as payback."<BR/><BR/>No revenge<BR/><BR/>Zuma's victory should not be a signal for revenge or retribution, the party's alliance partners said on Wednesday in a separate press briefing at the national conference.<BR/><BR/>"This is not a moment for triumphalism or factional revenge," SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande said in Polokwane. "These inclinations will simply plunge us into another cycle of inward-focused manoeuvring. Let us devote our energies to uniting around the tasks of transformation."<BR/><BR/>His words were echoed by Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, who said Cosatu appeals to all members of the ANC and its alliance partners to accept the outcome of the democratic process. The alliance leadership cannot afford retribution or vengeance.<BR/><BR/>"This is a historic moment in our movement and our country," he said. "We look forward to working closely together to take forward the national democratic revolution and transform the lives of all South Africans."<BR/><BR/>Vavi said the leadership's priority has to be to make South Africa's second 10 years of democracy a decade for the workers and the poor. <BR/><BR/>Both the SACP and Cosatu backed Zuma in the contest for the ANC presidency.<BR/><BR/>Nzimande said the SACP believes the electoral renewal of the ANC leadership provides a platform on which to rebuild the tripartite alliance, which has come under increasing pressure in recent years. "For too long intra-alliance relationships have been marked by recriminations and stand-offs."<BR/><BR/>He said the SACP pledges to be a loyal and reliable ally. It is critical to reaffirm the ANC's "leading role" in developing broad strategic policy perspectives "without, of course, seeking to micro-manage government".<BR/><BR/>The conference has provided a platform for a significant renewal and advance of "our progressive movement".<BR/><BR/>Silent Zuma<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, Zuma treated the media to no more than an enigmatic smile as he was mobbed when he left the presidential suite at the party's conference in Polokwane on Wednesday.<BR/><BR/>He maintained a steadfast silence as he emerged after lunch, after meeting and greeting his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe; national chairperson Baleka Mbete; and secretary general Thoko Didiza.<BR/><BR/>Photographers running after him cringed with embarrassment when they realised they were following him to the toilet. When he returned, he was begged repeatedly for comment, but he kept up the silence he has maintained since he was elected on Tuesday night.<BR/><BR/>"Mr Zuma, Mr Zuma, please ... how do you feel, tell us anything, just one comment," called a reporter.<BR/><BR/>Zuma, flanked by his bodyguards who at time had to push people away, started laughing, but still would not say anything. He took off his hat as he got into his chauffeur-driven, official black BMW with his treasurer general, Mathews Phosa, and they sped away.<BR/><BR/>Zuma is expected to address the closing session of the conference on Thursday. A planned media briefing for Wednesday was cancelled on the grounds that Zuma should address the party's members first.Pan-African News Wirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.com