The African National Congress (ANC) recently held a week long elective conference at its birth place in Mangaung, Bloemfontein.
Like any other political gathering, the atmosphere inside the vast tent was tense, colossal and acrimonious.
In the run up to the conference, which was the 53rd of its kind since the founding of the 100 year old liberation movement, the party was divided between militant supporters of vice president of the party and the country Kgalema Motlanthe and his boss Jacob Msholozi Zuma.
The Motlanthe camp was heavily supported by expelled Youth League leader Julius Malema who was hoping for a miracle of his candidate’s triumph if he were to have any chances of returning back into the fold.
Zuma on the other hand went into the indaba a confident but cautious person. Confident because his camp had managed to secure support of powerful provinces like Kwazulu Natal, Free State, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and North East. While provinces like Gauteng probably the richest among all provinces), Western Cape and Limpopo did not hide their dissatisfaction with what they dubbed “Zuma problem.”
Yes, the populist politician was also cautious because he was fighting another battle for life where any crushing defeat would mean the return of his foes like Thambo Mbeki camp combined with Malema factor.
These ambitious characters would have ensured that Zuma is recalled from his seat; face corruption charges and spend most of his retirement in the corridors of court thereby rendering his admirable political career useless.
However, right from the word go, it became apparently clear that Zuma was the man of people if the chants and the singing were anything to go by.
The shrewd politician evoked the Madiba spirit when he led the 5000 member gathering into singing an old Mandela song “long walk to freedom.”
This took anybody in the room by surprise including Motlanthe himself, who had no choice but to join his close ally-turned rival into singing the freedom song. It was also an abandonment of the trademark uMshini wami (give me my machine gun) song on the part of Zuma.
If Motlanthe was a soothsayer then he was able to read the writing on the wall that he was fighting a losing war.
No wonder he decided to go broke by refusing to accept any other nomination apart from that of president. He knew his game plan had dramatically faltered and it was better for him to lose the presidential contest of the party with dignity than losing the deputy president position to high flying Ramaphosa.
Fast forward to the outcome, the Zuma slate which had names like prodigal son Cyril Ramaphosa, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, Gwede Mantashe, Jessey Duarte and Baleka Mbete won resoundingly by a 75 percent margin against Motlanthe camp’s 25 percent.
This result did not only put Zuma in a very powerful position but also it has shown that for one to survive a political storm you need to have strong roots with the grass root structures a fact respected by Zuma and ignored by Motlanthe.
Other pundits have gone to conclude that the outcome was not mainly of Zuma’s making but rather it was Motlanthe’s undoing.
Until last week Motlanthe, a former president who was stop-gap leader when Mbeki was treacherously recalled, was a shining star in South African politics as he was tipped to be the next president of the continent’s biggest economy.
But alas!! The entire glittering career seem to have gone down the sea following his sudden fall from grace and he now requires more than divine intervention if he is to bounce back as it has already been confirmed by the party leadership that the reserved politician is on his way out to head the ANC political school.
Out of the indaba two important things happened, the fall of potential successor to Zuma and the resurrection of a man most book makers describe as the best president South Africa never had, Cyril Ramaphosa, a billionaire businessman, trained lawyer and former union activist who played a pivotal role into the release of apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
That is how witty Zuma is; first of all he knew for him to retain the leadership of the party he needed a strong character of Ramaphosa caliber to counter the Motlanthe effect.
No wonder his camp was nervous as Ramaphosa was reportedly not willing to take on his long time comrade until last minute when it was all clear that the fight was heading for a real showdown.
For starters, Ramaphosa is not new to South African politics. He was handpicked by Mandela to be his successor in around 1997 only for him to be cravenly thwarted by Mbeki lobbyists.
He has not been heard since then until recently when he was implicated in the Marikana tragedy where he is shareholder of the mining company where 34 protesting miners were shot dead by the police.
Despite such a scandal, his rise to the second most powerful position of the party, not only has it made him the leader in waiting but it also signifies the comeback of a man who spent close to two decades in wilderness where he has been strategizing on how he would make a political return while making billions in the private sector.
Without being novice but it is all clear that while Zuma has consolidated his political stamina, he has also managed a leeway for seamless transition whenever he decides to call it quits.
All this is supposed to teach our local politicians one or two political lessons that no matter how hard you fall, still it is the way you pick yourself up that is important.
Say for instance, if Ramaphosa had decided to form his own political party soon after he was frustrated by the Mbeki camp in 1997, definitely the powerful ANC delegates wouldn’t have had the trust in him again.
The way Ramaphosa has played his politics over the years is in sharp contrast to what our own political prostitutes behave. Just imagine, when news was all over that late Bingu wa Mutharika had collapsed and was admitted to Kamuzu Central hospital (of all places) several DPP die hards as well as cabinet ministers at the time rushed to Zodiak radio to declare their defection to the ruling Peoples Party, really?
This is a behavior as voters we should not tolerate and we can demonstrate our discontent by punishing such politicians through the ballot, yes making them see red on the voting day because they take our precious vote for a ride.
But here is a man who has devoted his entire life to serving his nation in various capacities both in government and private sector and he has always maintained high pedigree of principled life.
Having resorted to playing dark room politics which is credited for manufacturing the return of Zuma in 2007 in Polokwane followed by immediate recall of Mbeki some days later, Ramaphosa is one kind of persona we must all admire and borrow a leaf from.
It is a shame that when our politicians fall from grace only a handful of them have been able to maintain same financial status. The rest end up miserably by being reduced to mere beggars in town. For Ramaphosa, his fall in 1997 was an opportunity to build an economic empower while planning ahead. This strategy has dramatically worked and I will not be surprised if political scientists on the continent part ways temporarily with their busy schedule to write a book, if not books, about “The rise, fall and resurrection of Cyril.”
I remember during my secondary school days, news was all over that Ramaphaosa (the man I have lived to admire) together with two men he convincingly defeated during the convention namely; Tokyo Sexwale and Mathews Phosa, were shamelessly accused of plotting to overthrow Mbeki in a coup plot which ended up angering the old aged Madiba.
It is reported that the South African statesman even warned his successor that his days were numbered as he had focused on waging war against fellow comrades instead of prioritizing the plight of South Africans.
I have in mind some very few politicians who have soldiered on even when their boat has been ramshackled by whirlwind.
As we bid farewell to 2012, may the year ahead bring sanity to our politicians for once. By the way is there any good explanation why a legislator would defect from the ruling party to the opposition and vice versa six times in less than a month?
It is about time sanity prevailed among our politicians and like I said learning from the rise, fall and resurrection of Ramaphosa there is at least some solace that political tumbling is not the end of road rather it’s just a stepping stone to one’s ambitions.
God willing I will be coming up with one more wrap-up before the year ends in few days time.
All-in-all, for me, just like Zuma and Ramaphosa, the journey has not ended with triumph; it has actually just begun for the two men seen in all fairness as having many lives than a cat sharing the slate.
