By Anneke Scheepers.
Towards the end of 2012, we saw a boiling over of the pot that is the South African political arena. We need little reminder of the lives lost due to strike action, and the spread of these strikes throughout South Africa. We saw and heard rumours of increasing unrest due to the ever lagging and poorly addressed issue of Land Reform, another topic entirely.
However the instance of where the soup hit the stove that we will be looking at here pertains to the ANCs Leadership Elections which were held at Mangaung. Despite there being many talking points supplied by this events that could have us criticising to the point of near exhaustion; there was a brief ray of light amidst the tumult.
Before we get into why Kgalema Motlanthe’s actions can be said to be reminiscent of the beloved Madiba Magic, let’s take a look at the milieu in which it occurred. In the build-up to the ANCs leadership election, Jacob Zuma abruptly dropped charges that he had made against the political cartoonist for his depiction of Jacob Zuma about rape lady justice. It was said that the President realised that these charges were impeding on freedom of speech. On the ground however, the story was quite different, it was rumoured that President Zuma was worried at the fact that Motlanthe could pose a threat to his being re-elected as the President of the ANC, thus also threatening his Presidency over South Africa.
In addition we also the Free State delegation of ANC in Mangaung were not there legitimately but they were still allowed to vote because if they had not been deemed eligible, threat to Zuma’s campaign would have increased. These two events indicate that there was some worry in Zuma’s camp. In the end Jacob Zuma won the Leadership Election and for that we congratulate him, as he received two thirds of the vote. However, the true praise ought to go to Kgalema Motlanthe.
Although he did not win, Motlanthe showed a true spirit of democracy, in that when he was given an opportunity to address the attendees, which usually doesn’t happen, his words were that of congratulation to Jacob Zuma and homage to the ANC and its democratic mandate.
The two shook hands and it was clear that there was no animosity, which was a breath of fresh air. Lately in South African politics we have seen all the more that opposition is misconstrued to mean enemy and that when there is opposition it is not seen as it ought to be seen, as consolidating democracy.
Kgalema Motlanthe was also offered a spot on the National Executive Committee, which he refused. The fact that he did this shows that he had cause to oppose Jacob Zuma and that he has a commitment to this cause that was not to be undermined by a high ranking position. Motlanthe also remains a member of the ANC, supporting its mandate and elected leader, Jacob Zuma. We have seen that disagreement in the ranks can lead to factions or breakaways and while these do occur for legitimate reasons, Kgalema Motlanthe did not follow this trend.
While we can agree that Nelson Mandela and his legacy is in a league of its own and ultimately represents our spirit of democracy in South Africa but it has been a long time in South African politics, since we have seen someone exhibit the some of the traits of Madiba, touching on the Madiba Magic and the actions taken by Kgalema Motlanthe in light of the ANC Leadership Election of 2012, can be remembered as such.
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