After the devastating election outcome for the ANC, sections of it have reverted to a well-known default position: factional warfare over who will lead the party next.
Who the ANC partners with to retain power in this new coalition era is quickly becoming a proxy battle for the party’s succession battle.
The shenanigans around the ANC Gauteng this week starkly show that jostling for the top spot in the party has not been quelled by a humbling 17 percentage point drop in political support nationally. Worse, the battle is being driven from the province which is arguably its weakest link.
Gauteng is positioning itself to take centre stage in the upcoming succession race, in which one of its own, Paul Mashatile, is the front-runner. Historically, it fashioned itself as an outlier in internal ANC politics; this time is no different.
TimesLIVE reported on Monday that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula had summoned ANC Gauteng chair Panyaza Lesufi to explain his disparaging comments about the government of national unity (GNU) to the party’s top seven leaders, with a view to potentially discipline him. But Mbalula dismissed talk of disciplining Lesufi, saying it was merely a political discussion. Lesufi, a former spin doctor, told the ANC top leaders his comments were taken out of context.
Much of Gauteng’s political strategy under his watch has been brinkmanship and deflection, hardly a recipe to rescue it from its 35% electoral support.
The actual comments emerged during an interview Lesufi did with podcaster Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh. On the GNU, his remarks were predictable and dull but the final minutes when he spoke about ANC succession were riveting.
He does not see himself as president, mercifully.
Coalition shift
But he quickly added that whoever leads must not rule out the possibility of shifting the present coalition arrangement to include those parties that were “with us in the trenches”, with those “we share ideology with”, referring to Jacob Zuma’s MK party and Julius Malema’s EFF.
He chastised parties such as the DA and Freedom Front Plus for characterising these parties as “doomsday” projects.
“It is short sightedness [sic] of some of our leaders to believe that the DA, Freedom Front ... love us. I don’t know where it comes from ... we must hate MK purely because they must feel much better when we are not united.
“I am saying we must find leaders that consolidate and make sure we work together with those that share our aspirations.”
Ordinarily, it would not be problematic for the ANC to want to share power with like-minded parties, but Zuma’s MK is no ordinary party. Its anti-constitution, patriarchal, autocratic stance is an antithesis to the ANC South Africans are familiar with. It is led by a man who longed to be dictator for a day.
Zuma effectively sold the country to the Guptas, even appointing a finance minister at their behest, crippling the economy for years through the capture of state-owned entities.
Lesufi may not be eyeing the presidency in 2027, but he is most assuredly batting for a candidate he believes will rekindle the ANC’s romance with Zuma. That may well be Mashatile, which would be ironic since he was at the forefront of wanting Zuma out during the height of his power.
Another leader understood to be eyeing the presidency is Mbalula himself. He has been among the main drivers of the push for the GNU in its current form among the party’s top leaders. Further candidates may enter the fray, including one potentially with President Cyril Ramaphosa‘s blessing. Gwen Ramokgopa, Ronald Lamola or Zamani Saul are names touted thus far.
The battle then is being touted as those who view a future for the country through the lens of the current GNU — which is truly inclusive in that it includes genuine opposition parties — or one that simply consolidates the ANC’s power through tying up with its breakaways.
The latter implies a continuation of the culture cemented under Zuma’s presidency: that of patronage, incompetence, state capture, looting and factionalism.
It’s the choice Lesufi and the ANC in Gauteng has made. What will the rest of the ANC choose?
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