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ANC heading for a likely split
Former South African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota threatened on Wednesday to split the ruling African National Congress (ANC) following last month's ouster of former president Thabo Mbeki.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:21 October 9, 2008
Johannnesburg: Former South African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota threatened on Wednesday to split the ruling African National Congress (ANC) following last month's ouster of former president Thabo Mbeki.
"It seems that we are serving today divorce papers," Lekota said at a news conference after complaining at length about what he called undemocratic tendencies in the ANC, which he said had betrayed its own principles.
Mbeki's overthrow by the ANC leadership, the climax of a long struggle with party boss Jacob Zuma, has caused the biggest political upheaval since the end of apartheid in 1994.
The ANC brushed off Lekota's move, calling it a "machination".
"We will definitely not be deterred by the formation of any new political parties," said spokeswoman Jessie Duarte.
Lekota did not announce a new grouping as had earlier been predicted by Talk Radio 702 although he repeatedly said the dominant ruling party, Africa's oldest, was near a split.
But he strongly indicated there could be a breakaway. "This is probably the parting of the ways ... We hope that sense may still prevail in us... If not there's no going back," he said.
He called for a congress of forces opposed to the ANC's current policies and direction within four weeks but said he had not spoken to opposition parties.
Flanked by another ANC dissident, former Deputy Defence Minister Mluleki George, he added: "Logically it seems that this is the end of it."
The ANC's Duarte said Lekota had intended to announce a party, which 702 had said would include other Mbeki loyalists, but something went wrong and it was "stillborn".
Meanwhile, investors are worried that Zuma, strongly backed by the Communist Party and trade unions, would push South African economic policies to the left.
Fact file: who's Lekota?
- A close ally of former president Thabo Mbeki, Lekota served as defence minister between 1999 and 2008. He quit in protest at Mbeki's ousting and has since attacked the ANC's new leaders for betraying the party's values and stifling dissent.
- Lekota served as ANC chairman for 10 years until 2007 but was voted off the National Executive Committee after repeated criticism of ANC leader Jacob Zuma, who is expected to win a presidential election next year.
- Nicknamed "Terror" for his fearsome skills on the soccer pitch as a young man, Lekota was the eldest of seven children in a working class family. He turned 60 in August. A keen cyclist, Lekota suffered a heart attack in 2005.
- Lekota worked as a student activist during the 1970s. He was jailed for six years on Robben Island, where he met ANC leaders. After release in 1982 he joined the liberation struggle but was arrested again and charged with high treason. He was held for more than 4 years before being acquitted in 1989.
- After the un-banning of the ANC, Lekota worked as the chairman of regional party branches before he was elected onto the National Executive Committee in 1991.
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