Critics of former President Thabo Mbeki tell a story that during his tenure as head of the ANC and the country, he was intolerant of criticism from his predecessors.
One of the stories suggests that Mbeki warned former president Nelson Mandela during one national executive committee meeting that he should not rule from the grave. It is said that the meeting was the last one Madiba attended in his ex-officio capacity. But those in the ANC who were there at the time would know better.
If all of the above holds true, then Mbeki has since had his Damascus moment, just like the biblical Apostle Paul. This would explain why Mbeki has a sudden shift in his approach toward his successors, especially President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He has become an outspoken critic of Ramaphosa’s ANC administration. It would also explain why he publicly criticises the current ANC leadership and its decisions. He did exactly that this week in a stinging letter to Ramaphosa’s second-in-command, deputy president Paul Mashatile.
In the coming days, Mbeki will come under fire from ANC sycophants and Ramaphosa’s apologists for raising his views so sharply. He argued that the governing party is mishandling the matter of the illegal stack of US dollars allegedly stolen while hidden inside a sofa at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo in 2020.
He concludes that if the ANC continues to bury its head in the sand, voters will punish the party in the national elections next year. Then, the party’s historical mission to liberate the poor, mostly black majority, would be forever defeated.
Mbeki’s letter is a stark reminder that voices of dissent must be respected and acknowledged, even if they differ from the majority opinion.
He correctly points out that the majority pretended to be right when his immediate successor, former president Jacob Zuma, faced allegations of enriching himself and his family through state-sponsored upgrades at his Nkandla residence in Northern KwaZulu-Natal.
It was only when the Constitutional Court’s walls crumbled down on Zuma that his cronies started singing a different tune. Mbeki warns that the Ramaphosa ANC is failing to learn from history and repeating the same mistakes that compromised its integrity under Zuma.
It is a valid point. The ANC’s entrenched desire to shield Ramaphosa from accountability at all costs will only precipitate the party’s downfall. Ramaphosa’s aversion to accountability will be an indelible stain on his legacy.
Phala Phala is once again a warning sign for the ANC, as history has shown that unchecked power leads to abuse and arrogance. The ANC’s unwillingness to allow for any form of accountability and inspection into Ramaphosa’s side hustle would be a major factor in the party’s waning popularity.
When a transparent system of checks and balances like Parliament is undermined, it will be impossible to hold Ramaphosa and even other ANC members accountable for their actions. However, it would only result in further erosion of public trust in the governing party. Of course, Mbeki puts it better in a language that is more understandable to the ANC.
If there is anyone who needs to heed Mbeki’s wise words of warning even deeper, it is one Qubudile Dyantyi, the chairperson of the ongoing Parliamentary inquiry into the suspension of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
In that hostile battle ring that Dyantyi is commanding, Mkhwebane is surrounded by a bloodthirsty coalition of the ANC and the predominantly white wing of Parliament. To date, she has been subjected to a vicious kangaroo court parading itself as the voice of the voters.
Likewise, the judiciary must also heed Mbeki’s call. To paraphrase Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane in a widely published recent interview on social media, one cannot even vouch with confidence that the judiciary did not play a deliberate and coordinated role in Mkhwebane’s crucifixion.
Even the apex court warned of judges being overzealous when it came to handling matters involving Mkhwebane. This related to the personal costs she had been slapped with on a whim in the corridors of the high court in Pretoria.
The harsh judgments against her are full of demeaning adjectives that reflect her character and not the law. Mkhwebane is not flawless and should not be given special treatment when she falters. But she is not the devil incarnate either.
Her cardinal sin is to disturb the untouchables in government and in the highest echelons of the white-dominated economy. Just because she touched Ramaphosa, the ANC and its fellow travelers had to come down on her like a ton of bricks. Mkhwebane’s predecessor, Thuli Madonsela, endured the same assault during the Nkandla debacle.
It is exactly what Mbeki warns against. In his words, he asks his ANC colleagues: “Are we saying that we suspect or know that [Ramaphosa] has done something wrong and therefore decided that we must protect our president at all costs?”
To read more political news and views, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa
