SECRET VOTE
ANTHONY BUTLER: Appearance of moral rectitude gives Mbete a shot at presidency
‘There has been no groundswell of loyalist anger against Mbete’s purportedly brave stand for constitutional principles’
Baleka Mbete, Speaker of the National Assembly, ANC chairwoman and self-styled presidential hopeful, has enjoyed remarkably generous media coverage in recent days. Yet a week ago, she epitomised everything that had gone wrong with the ANC. A brave activist and a talented writer, she had weathered the hardships of political exile. Since 1994, however, she has been embroiled in scandals that have included at least one inexplicably remunerative black economic empowerment transaction. Latterly, as speaker, she has been decried as a Luthuli House stooge who has helped the ANC parliamentary caucus bury the Nkandla scandal and endorsed the violent ejection of unruly opposition MPs. But on Monday, Mbete announced that the motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma would be voted upon by secret ballot. By this single step, she was transformed – at least in her acolytes’ eyes — into an exponent of principled politics. On her own account, she had undertaken impartial consideration of...
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