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Zuma's credibility eroded in Zim
Malema's visit a blow to SA's mediation efforts
Apr 6, 2010 10:09 PM | By S'Thembiso Msomi
S'Thembiso Msomi: The March 31 deadline has come and gone and still there is no deal in Zimbabwe.
'We salute Mugabe for standing firm against imperialists'
President Jacob Zuma announced the deadline at the end of his "successful" three-day visit to Zimbabwe during which he met the three protagonists in that country's political conflict.
In a statement issued after meeting President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara last month, Zuma said that the parties had agreed on a road-map, the detailing of which was to be concluded by the end of last month.
But, as we approach the second week of April, Zuma has had to send his mediating team back to Harare because little progress appears to have been made since his visit.
At the centre of the current crisis is the failure by the parties - especially Mugabe's Zanu-PF - to implement fully their Global Political Agreement of 2008.
It was this agreement - brokered during Thabo Mbeki's last days as president - that led to the formation of the Zimbabwean unity government now in power.
Much of Mbeki's almost 10 years in office were spent in unsuccessful efforts to bring about an end to the political conflict that had turned our northern neighbour into an economic and social nightmare for its citizens.
But, partly because of Mbeki's actions and partly because of the Tsvangirai-led MDC's political weaknesses, Mugabe somehow always succeeded in undermining South Africa's efforts.
The result was that, by the time the ANC forced Mbeki out of office, he had lost all credibility in the eyes of many as an impartial and effective mediator in Zimbabwe.
Zuma increasingly seems to be headed in the same direction, and it is not because of Mugabe's cunning political tricks: it's largely because of Zuma and the ANC's schizophrenic approach to his Zimbabwean counterpart.
This disorder is amply demonstrated by the recent ANC Youth League visit to the troubled country.
Only five months ago, youth league president Julius Malema was quoted as saying that Mugabe "must step down" because "we need a new president in Zim".
But at the weekend, clad in a Mugabe shirt and speaking to Zanu-PF Youth supporters in Harare, Malema changed his tune: "We salute President Mugabe for standing firm against imperialists. The reason why they want him to go is because he has started attending to the real issues."
He then denounced Tsvangirai and the MDC as allies of the "imperialists" who want to destroy liberation movements in southern Africa and replace them with "surrogate" governments.
Such statements, coming from the leader of the ANC's youth wing, can hardly enhance Zuma's image as an honest broker in the conflict between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
Zizi Kodwa, Zuma's spokesman and a youth league elder, told City Press that the presidency "cannot stop an NGO like" the youth league from doing "political work" in Zimbabwe.
But Kodwa and the ANC cannot have their cake and eat it too.
Since its Polokwane conference, party leaders have always insisted that the ANC is "the political centre" that determines and guides government policies and actions.
And as an integral part of that "political centre" we should assume that the ANC Youth League wields far greater influence than any ordinary NGO.
To dismiss Malema's statements in Zimbabwe as yet another publicity-seeking stunt is to miss the point about the ruling party's contradictory understanding of the crisis in Zimbabwe.
In confidential discussions, Zuma's closest associates are quick to distance the ANC from Zanu-PF - pointing out that, historically, South Africa's oldest political party had fraternal relations with Mugabe's past rivals - the Zimbabwean African People's Union. The implication is that Zuma and the ANC have no interest in keeping Mugabe in power and that they can, therefore, be trusted to mediate in the current political impasse.
On the other hand, however, you have the likes of Malema depicting Mugabe and Zanu-PF as "anti-imperialist heroes" whose continuation in power is necessary for the very survival of the ANC and other governing former liberation movements in the region.
Since taking over, Zuma has had one thing working in his favour: the MDC and other role players genuinely believed him to be an impartial mediator committed to finding a lasting solution to the country's problems.
But this confidence in him will soon evaporate if he does not watch the actions and utterances of those with strong ties to him.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/article389239.ece/Zumas-credibility-eroded-in-Zim
ANC dismisses 2012 'plot' reports
Apr 7, 2010 8:11 PM | By Sapa
The ANC dismissed media reports about plots to get rid of its present leadership.
ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu
The party dismissed "with contempt" an article in Wednesday's Sowetan headlined "ANC Faction 'Plots' to Oust Leadership", spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.
"Any attempt by any newspaper or any formation to implicate members and leaders of the ANC in their smear campaign against the ANC is divisive and mischievous and devoid of the truth."
The Sowetan reported there was a move within the ANC to overhaul the party's leadership in 2012, to give nationalists more power and neutralise the left.
The ANC said its national executive committee had issued a directive to members and structures to refrain from any succession debate and discussion.
"This will be done at an appropriate time as stipulated by the ANC constitution."
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article390956.ece/ANC-dismisses-2012-plot-reports
Another fake upheaval in the anc...
Jackson Mthembu’s last drunken phone call before the arrest?
Posted: March 11th, 2010 | By Ray Hartley
Perhaps the lesson here is: Don’t drink and spin.
In what appears to be his last interview before being arrested for drunk driving in Cape Town, the ANC’s spin doctor in chief, Jackson Mthembu defended Julius Malema’s singing of a song including the lyrics “shoot the boers, they are rapists”.
In a telephone interview with a Sapa journalist, Mthembu, perhaps feeling a little over-confident as one does after an early morning drinking session, actually sang the song out loud himself.
Here’s Sapa’s account:
“Let’s discuss appropriately on this matter. Don’t blame Julius. In fact, on this one, I will defend him,” ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu told Sapa by phone on Thursday morning.
“This song was sung for many years even before Malema was born. Julius doesn’t even know who’s the writer of the song. He got it from us [the ANC]. You must blame the ANC, don’t blame Julius. But when you blame the ANC, then contextualise it.”
Mthembu said the song was an old struggle song that Malema learnt from his ANC colleagues.
There were many songs in South Africa’s history that could offend people, he said.
“I know of songs that sing of generals, but let’s leave that aside,” he said, declining to name the song, but in a clear hint to the Afrikaans hit, “De la Rey”, about a general in the Anglo-Boer war.
The song Malema sang was not meant to attack boers, said Mthembu.
“If you don’t look at the song in its entirety, then you lose the meaning,” he said, before starting to sing it to Sapa during the telephonic interview.
http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/hartle...us-last-drunken-phone-call-before-the-arrest/
Wonder if these idiots can get through a day sober...