Cdes, Where does this junk come from all of a sudden? People are just opportunists because they "in themselves" see a possibility of leadership change. It won't happen...
Rev. Chikane, must just be relaxed and stop wanting to resurrect at the expense of others... Haai ANC Elective Conferences do create miracles shame... Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you! -----Original Message----- From: "Sandile Khumalo" <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:47:18 To: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] The ANC will, relatively soon, not have enough votes to rule SA on its own. And the longer Jacob Zuma is president of the party and country the sooner that will be - PETER BRUCE PETER BRUCE: The Thick End of the Wedge - The Editor's Notebook The ANC will, relatively soon, not have enough votes to rule SA on its own. And the longer Jacob Zuma is president of the party and country the sooner that will be PETER BRUCE Published: 2012/03/12 07:31:22 AM DO YOU remember Frank Chikane? He was head of the Presidency under Thabo Mbeki . He was there when Mbeki was unceremoniously removed from office by that open, democratic and thoughtful body of citizens known as the African National Congress, in September 2008. Chikane has just published a book - Eight Days in September - about that time and it would be useful for every literate South African to buy it and read it, and read it to their children. It reminds us all how shamefully Mbeki was treated - by his own party and by the media (including, probably, the newspapers I was editing). Basically the party "recalled" him, and the meeting that did it waited in Pretoria tapping its fingers on the table until he left, caring not a whit for the constitutional implications of what they were doing, so badly did they want him gone. President Jacob Zuma , who installed Kgalema Motlanthe to warm the seat until he had arranged for corruption charges against him to be withdrawn, was at the centre of this outrage and did nothing to stop it. He could have insisted that Mbeki see out his term, on pain of his own resignation as party leader, but he has never held any principle other than his own personal political survival. Basically, it was left to Mbeki, given just hours to pack and leave his residence and his office, to save the country from its own ruling party. Mbeki actually had to help Zuma overthrow him constitutionally rather than illegally. He had to remind the party that Parliament, not the ANC, appointed him and then arrange for Parliament to replace him. To do that he had to get Baleka Mbete , ANC chairwoman and speaker of the National Assembly, to do her job properly for once and get him fired in her role as the latter, having presided over his execution as the former. It was Mbeki who had to remind the military to do their duty; that though he had been unconstitutionally removed, their job, along with him, was to quickly make it all constitutional to save the country from the political pirates who wanted him out before his term (granted by Parliament, not them) was over. One of those, Julius Malema, has finally gotten his just deserts. Another, Zuma, wants a second term as head of state. A third, Zwelinzima Vavi, is full of remorse and still playing games. There are others who stayed. Trevor Manuel . Lindiwe Sisulu . Derek Hanekom . Pravin Gordhan. Why? Do they feel they owe the country a duty? They can't possibly have any political respect for the president. It is hard to articulate in polite English what a hazard he is to the country. He is interested, literally, in nothing but himself. He isn't interested in policy and he isn't interested in any of the debates about it. He complains about the media that attack him, but he reads, apparently, nothing that isn't about him. A colleague of mine told me the other day Zuma had complained recently about the Sunday Times but that he had "no problem" with Business Day. Oh what joy. The last person he had met from Business Day, he said, was David Bullard (who has never worked here). I know we're supposed to take the government seriously and treat its officers with respect, but how do you do that when the man leading it a) got the job by committing a series of political and legal outrages and b) puts his own interests before the country's? In the face of a general strike last week he said and did absolutely nothing. Chikane's book reminds us who we're being led by and it isn't pretty. Sure, we were all cross with Mbeki, for AIDS, for his aloofness, for Jackie Selebi, for going up against Zuma in Polokwane when it was clear he would lose and for not making room for someone else to take up the challenge. But we have never thanked him for behaving like a civilised patriot at what must have been the toughest hours of his life. The ANC will, relatively soon, not have enough votes to rule South Africa on its own. And the longer Jacob Zuma is president of the party and country the sooner that will be. Where, you have to ask, is Cyril Ramaphosa? Where is Tokyo Sexwale? Where is Zweli Mkhize? Of course, we know the answer. So do they. But surely there has to be more to a political life than mere survival? Where is the courage that helped them stand up to apartheid brutality? Is Jacob Zuma really that frightening? -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. 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