ANC AND ZUMA DIVIDE
ANC in transition: a movement caught between old and new
There were two ANCs on display this week. The old Jacob Zuma ANC and the emerging new Cyril Ramaphosa ANC. On Tuesday, the Zuma ANC was represented by secretary-general Ace Magashule, who announced the decision by the party’s national executive committee to recall Zuma. The way in which he phrased the recall — "We did not take these decisions because comrade Jacob Zuma has done anything wrong" — and the way in which he dealt with questions from reporters was emblematic of the uncomfortable, inward-looking politics of a closed organisation. In this world, the protection of the leader against the slings and arrows of criticism trumps all else. And so Magashule said: "Forget about fake news [on] Russian nuclear or any other thing that disrespects President Zuma. We still believe in him as a leader." He actually thought he could get away with saying that Zuma was being recalled despite doing no wrong and that the ANC "still believed in him as a leader". It was the sort of double-speak t...
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