New SA party needs strong leaders to challenge ANC

JOHANNESBURG – Efforts to form a breakaway group from South Africa’s ruling ANC are gaining momentum, but analysts say that the new party still needs to recruit nationally recognised leaders in order to succeed.

Former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota, an ally of ousted president Thabo Mbeki, indicated on Wednesday that a new party could split from the African National Congress (ANC) within weeks. Lekota – a fiery speaker whose nickname is “Terror” – resigned from cabinet after the ANC forced Mbeki to resign last month, and has since launched a tirade of criticism at the party that led the anti-apartheid movement.Lekota is believed to have the support of other Mbeki loyalists angry at the party’s decision to force him from power just months before the end of his mandate, with elections due next year.But so far no high-profile politicians have voiced support for the proposed organisation.”The disgruntled clique led by Lekota seems intent on forming a new party,” said independent political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi.”However, the new party ought to have good, qualitative leadership to survive and garner a significant number of votes in the upcoming elections,” Matshiqi told AFP.”Right now the main voices behind this proposed party fall short of credible leadership credentials.It will be interesting to see how they fare once they are outside the ANC,” said Matshiqi.Divisions within the ANC had been simmering since 2005 when Mbeki fired Jacob Zuma as his deputy, after Zuma’s former financial adviser was convicted on corruption charges.The tension heightened at the party’s national conference in December, when Mbeki was unceremoniously unseated by Zuma as party president.Mbeki’s mother Epainette, a respected figure in the struggle against apartheid, said in a newspaper interview yesterday that the ANC had sunk to “low levels of political development” and called the new party a “first-class idea.””The party is not the ANC we used to know,” the 92-year-old told the Daily Dispatch newspaper.But Lekota will still have to convince active politicians to join his campaign, said Hennie van Vurren an analyst from the Institute of Security Studies.”The question is, can this new party really come forward with a group of credible leaders and a set of big ideas that capture the imagination of the South African public,” he said.The move to form a new political party was welcomed by the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).”The disintegration of the ANC has begun, heralding an exciting new era in South Africa,” opposition leader Helen Zille said.”All historic indications show that he will not be able to make it, the ANC will repair itself and retain is broad support,” said Paul Graham, executive director of the Institute of Democracy in South Africa.”To build a party requires a lot of things, not all of which are presently in place.””However the socio-economic structures of South Africa are changing…if they do all the right things, and work extremely hard, perhaps they could build a party over a period of five to 10 years,” Graham said.- Nampa-AFPLekota – a fiery speaker whose nickname is “Terror” – resigned from cabinet after the ANC forced Mbeki to resign last month, and has since launched a tirade of criticism at the party that led the anti-apartheid movement.Lekota is believed to have the support of other Mbeki loyalists angry at the party’s decision to force him from power just months before the end of his mandate, with elections due next year.But so far no high-profile politicians have voiced support for the proposed organisation.”The disgruntled clique led by Lekota seems intent on forming a new party,” said independent political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi.”However, the new party ought to have good, qualitative leadership to survive and garner a significant number of votes in the upcoming elections,” Matshiqi told AFP.”Right now the main voices behind this proposed party fall short of credible leadership credentials.It will be interesting to see how they fare once they are outside the ANC,” said Matshiqi.Divisions within the ANC had been simmering since 2005 when Mbeki fired Jacob Zuma as his deputy, after Zuma’s former financial adviser was convicted on corruption charges.The tension heightened at the party’s national conference in December, when Mbeki was unceremoniously unseated by Zuma as party president.Mbeki’s mother Epainette, a respected figure in the struggle against apartheid, said in a newspaper interview yesterday that the ANC had sunk to “low levels of political development” and called the new party a “first-class idea.””The party is not the ANC we used to know,” the 92-year-old told the Daily Dispatch newspaper.But Lekota will still have to convince active politicians to join his campaign, said Hennie van Vurren an analyst from the Institute of Security Studies.”The question is, can this new party really come forward with a group of credible leaders and a set of big ideas that capture the imagination of the South African public,” he said.The move to form a new political party was welcomed by the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).”The disintegration of the ANC has begun, heralding an exciting new era in South Africa,” opposition leader Helen Zille said.”All historic indications show that he will not be able to make it, the ANC will repair itself and retain is broad support,” said Paul Graham, executive director of the Institute of Democracy in South Africa.”To build a party requires a lot of things, not all of which are presently in place.””However the socio-economic structures of South Africa are changing…if they do all the right things, and work extremely hard, perhaps they could build a party over a period of five to 10 years,” Graham said.- Nampa-AFP