Mangaung and the man from Nkandla

If the gaffes coming from the highest office in the land are anything to go by, there are forces right in the Union Buildings, Luthuli House and even in Cabinet working against and embarrassing the man from Nkandla.

It seems the “Alliance of the Walking Wounded”, which rallied around President Jacob Zuma in the run-up to Polokwane, was a farce. It was every man for himself. The “walking wounded” included Tokyo Sexwale, Zwelinzima Vavi, Blade Nzimande, the ANCYL, Cyril Ramaphosa, Winnie Mandela etc. These were all people who had an axe to grind with former president Thabo Mbeki for shunning and sidelining them.

It has since become clear that the support Zuma had was not necessarily voluntary. It was out of necessity as they had to get back into the ANC fold and the only way to do this was to support the man who seemed unstoppable. He had all the grassroots support and was the only man with the best shot at unseating Mbeki.

Mbeki’s exit had varying benefits for all of them. For Vavi and Nzimande it meant the strengthening of their position within the alliance, which Mbeki had drastically diluted. For the likes of Sexwale, Winnie Mandela and Ramaphosa it meant being back in the fold, and for the ANCYL it meant being taken seriously again.

But clearly they all didn’t bargain on Zuma asserting his authority when he was in power. Nor did they bargain on him wanting to stay on for a second term. All this and the fact that each one of them held different motives for joining forces behind Zuma spelt the end of that alliance. They all expected different outcomes from the Zuma presidency, which it seems they are not getting.

Malema is the only one that has overtly and publicly voiced his dissatisfaction with Zuma and has since been dealt with harshly. There have been reports of clandestine meetings where Zuma’s removal at the ANC elective conference in Mangaung next year are discussed. Zuma seems to only have the ever loyal Gwede Mantashe and ANC national chairperson Baleka Mbete left in his corner.

It’s clear that though Zuma seems to have complete control of the ANC national executive committee, there are strong and influential forces working against him within the party. Most notable among these is Malema and the ANCYL.

We have seen an increasing number of instances where the president was obviously not properly advised and/or was not given the full details for him to properly apply his mind. This has, on a number of occasions led to a situation where the highest office in the land has had to eat humble pie in front of the courts and the public.

The people jostling for positions within the ANC should know better than to allow such battles to affect the government. In fact I feel it’s rather unpatriotic of them to, through their actions or inactions, manipulate and embarrass the office of the presidency simply because they want to get rid of the incumbent. Though they are free to contest positions, like in any other political party, they need to be mindful of the fact that the ANC is a ruling party and any tension and friction within it has a way of manifesting into the state.

The office of the president of the republic is much bigger than Zuma, as it was with Mbeki and Nelson Mandela. It should never be equated and confused with the individual for he holds it temporarily.