ANC treasurer Paul Mashatile and former party president Jacob Zuma arrived in Cape Town yesterday, each seeking to secure a prime position in the party’s national executive committee (NEC) top six.
With less a month to go before the party’s 55th elective conference at Nasrec, the pair addressed separate crowds, with Mashatile in Athlone and Zuma in Philippi as lobbying for support of voting delegates intensifies.
“If we work together, we will defeat the DA. I am personally coming to
(Cape Town) to lead that campaign,” promised Mashatile.
Speaking to Weekend Argus at a wreath-laying ceremony in Athlone, Mashatile evaded questions about possibly putting his hand up at the 11th hour for the position of president saying he was only aware of being nominated for the position of deputy president.
“The branches know their leaders, they will nominate and elect and they must work together. I’ve not been nominated for president, I have heard I have been nominated for deputy president and I want to leave it there for now.”
Speculation had been rife this week that Mashatile had set his sights set on the position of president.
During his address at the memorial lecture for anti-apartheid activist Anton Fransch, who was killed in 1989, Mashatile highlighted the importance of adopting “people-centric policies” rather than focusing on leadership contests.
“When we get to the conference, the first thing we must address is which policies we are going to adopt,” he said.
“Once we have adopted the good policies, then you can ask who the cadres are that we must elect.”
Mashatile also spoke on the importance of renewal and rebuilding of the ANC – a tagline that became synonymous with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidential campaign ahead of the 2019 elections.
“We need to renew the ANC to restore its relevance,” he added.
“A renewed ANC is an ANC that is not preoccupied with itself and its internal dynamics. It is an ANC that is in touch with communities.
“We need an ANC that spends more time solving the problems of its people and not its internal problems.”
He said a renewed ANC would demand accountability from its leadership and those it deployed in government.
“People must not just do as they wish, they must account for what they are doing,” he said.
He also touched on the importance of young leaders being represented in the leadership contestation – a contentious issue within a party that continues to elect older members to its top six.
“We are bringing lots of young leaders to the conference this year. We are bringing young leaders because we want them to run,” he said.
Meanwhile Zuma, who wants to be party chairperson, told supporters delegates must understand their mandate was to correct everything that went wrong after the 2017 Nasrec conference which “rendered the ANC weak”.
“We are going to a conference in December and we must look at what has happened since the Nasrec conference. Have we managed to strengthen the ANC to grow its support?
“You will agree with me based on how the ANC lost control of municipalities in the local government elections that since Nasrec, support has gone down.
“We were also not able to see through the implementation of resolutions that were taken at Nasrec. It will be very difficult to get an answer from the leadership of the ANC as to what has been done since.
“The behaviour of the leadership leaves a lot to be desired. The ANC must be rescued from the situation it finds itself in, we need to bring the ANC back.”
Zuma, who ignored calls from the floor for him to contest for ANC president, told attendees the current leadership had much to answer for including allegations that Ramaphosa was a CIA operative.
Zuma said the allegations made by Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota could not be ignored.