Zuma vs Motlanthe? Colour me confused

If, as suggested, there is a split in the Zuma camp between those who believe that Kgalema Motlanthe rather than Jacob Zuma should replace Thabo Mbeki as South Africa’s president, then I am more than slightly confused.

In terms of JZ facing a trial for corruption and his being tainted by the rape trial, I would submit that these are issues that were well known prior to Polokwane. Accordingly, any suggestions that Motlanthe must now be the candidate for the presidency based on those factors are mystifying.

Moreover, if they are the basis for a section of the Zuma camp now alleging that Motlanthe must be made the president in waiting, then the only conclusion that we can draw is that this has been the case all along.

When President Mbeki’s faction prior to and during Polokwane suggested that JZ was not a suitable candidate based upon, inter alia those issues, they were shot down as being ridiculous and out of touch with the grassroots. JZ was the man of the people and champion of the poor who was required to lead the way in accelerating the pace of reform.

What has changed?

Are there circumstances post-Polokwane that I am missing? If there are I must be suffering from some sort of hysterical blindness. As far as I can see, the JZ that went into Polokwane is the same model that’s on the showroom floor right now.

If the Motlanthe faction within the JZ camp are now suggesting that Zuma, due to the issues I have set out above, together with other new factors is unfit for the post, then I recommend they set out their stall now.

I say this for any number of compelling reasons not limited to:

JZ is a very popular figure on the ground. His immense support base brought down an ANC president at Polokwane. Accordingly, to deny them their president of choice, without clarifying what has suddenly changed, smacks of something unsavoury and will occasion a backlash.
President Mbeki and his supporters within the ANC are entitled to know why, if JZ is unfit for the post based on these issues, that this was denied up to and including Polokwane. If this was the case then Motlanthe should have headed the ticket, not JZ.
The fact that the outcome may well have been very different lends itself to the proposition that the ANC is going to land up with the third placed candidate. Zuma — the most popular — beats Mbeki and is then trumped by sleight of hand as Motlanthe becomes the candidate, based upon factors that were always within the knowledge of the Motlanthe camp when they backed JZ in the first place.
South Africa is facing a very traumatic and damaging trial later this year. If it was always going to be Motlanthe why have the people of this country not been advised as such? Why are the Scorpions now being sacrificed? Why is the rand and the economy being battered if everything is not as it seems to be?
If Kgalema Motlanthe is going to be the JZ candidate for the presidency then he, and his faction within the JZ camp, need to explain why this is the case.

It’s the very least they can do.