My Krossroads

The history  of independent South Africa  cannot  be complete without  the  narration  of the era of President Thabo Mbeki  from 1999 till  last Sunday  19th September 2008, when he formally announced his resignation from that high office. His resignation  came less than seven months to the completion  of his full second term which should have ended in April 2009. To those very knowledgeable in  South  African politics, Mr Mbeki sowed the seed of his downfall with the ill-advised attempt to contest the leadership of the African National Congress(ANC) in December 2007 at Mpumalanga, with his more popular erstwhile Deputy, Mr Jacob Zuma. At a time African leaders were being urged to keep to their constitutional mandate and not attempt to manipulate the constitution to ensure their perpetration in office, Mr Mbeki took a big  gamble by trying to have a third term rule as President of the ANC.  In fact, the popular slogan among his opponents at Mpumalanga was the deafening shout of  “NO THIRD TERM”. Unfortunately and against the background of  widespread opposition against him, he was humiliated and defeated in that election by his more popular and charismatic grassroots politician, Mr Jacob  Zuma. The moment Mr Zuma assumed office as President of the ANC in December 2007,  Mr Mbeki’s days in office as President of South Africa were numbered.
I had the opportunity to have met Mr Mbeki privately many times in the course of my tenure in that country as Nigeria’s High Commissioner and one cannot but be struck by his high sense of commitment to the progress of his country and the economic  development  of Africa. He had a burning passion to see Africa unite, develop and progress on the path of political and economic independence. He wanted to promote the unity of Africa on the basis of rapid economic development for the continent.   Along  with  Senegal’s  President Wade and  Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,  Mr Mbeki pioneered and midwifed the birth of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). They held the view that Africa can only achieve development when African countries partner one another for development, cooperation and growth based on mutually rewarding  gains.  Mr  Mbeki and the new generation of African leaders of their time saw NEPAD as crucial to a renaissance and fully supported its good governance foundations. The main goal of NEPAD’s programme was to hold African countries accountable to good governance with the Peer Review Mechanism and the adoption of policies, standards and practices that would lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated regional and continental economic integration. It was to Mr Mbeki’s credit that NEPAD survives, funded largely by the South African and Nigerian governments with its headquarters in Midrand, near Johannesburg.
Mr Mbeki also played crucial roles in the areas of conflict resolutions  and peace keeping on the continent. He was at the fore-front in the peace negotiations in Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, and recently in Zimbabwe. He was among the new generation of African leaders ,along with    President Kuffour of Ghana, President Wade of Senegal  and Chief Obasanjo that nurtured the peace in Liberia which saw the exit of Mr Charles Taylor and the commencement of the democratic process in that country  culminating  in the installation of a democratically elected government of Mrs Sirleaf  Johnson. While many observers agreed that Mr Mbeki recorded many successes abroad and enhanced the image and prestige of South Africa worldwide, he was to face many challenges at home.
When he delivered his maiden address as the new President of the ANC at the party’s December 1997 conference in Mafikeng, Mr Mbeki was determined to create his own image. He had to quickly separate himself from the larger than life image of his predecessor,  President Nelson Mandela. This attitude was to be the driving force behind Mbeki’s tenure. Unfortunately, Mr Mbeki was always going to be measured against the standard of Madiba, an almost impossible task for him to achieve.  A great orator who would usually embellish his speeches with extensive quotations from the Bible and other literature books , which were usually well received and applaused  by his audience, Mr Mbeki started well and quickly moved South Africa on the path of rapid economic development. His  yearly  February  Speech to the Parliament in Cape Town drew large audience and acclamation. His government focussed attention on infrastructural development and rehabilitation, education and health care as well as social development.  Under him, South Africa won the rights to host the 2010 World Cup in a hotly contested bidding. However, it would later appear that in spite of government’s pragmatic and planned development the dividends of democracy in the ANC-led administration were not being felt by the black masses. They had felt that in the 14 years of the ANC administration there should have been marked improvement in employment, poverty reduction  and better housing for the people. To compound the growing problem unfortunately, Mr Mbeki would appear not to have carried the ANC and key Trade Union Organisations such as the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the radical ANC Youth League along with him in the execution of government policies. Thus, the gulf between him and these organisations  widened  and  with many forces against him and time not being on his side, he was later to become a victim of the ANC’s intra party rivalry and  high wire intrigues.
Mr. Mbeki came from a privileged background, the son of Mr. Govan Mbeki, one of the distinguished leaders of the ANC and contemporary of President Nelson Mandela. His father   was imprisoned along with Nelson Mandela at Robben Island. Thabo Mbeki  was educated at the University of Sussex in England  and graduated with a degree in Economics  and served as ANC representative in Zambia, Botswana and in Nigeria from 1975 to 1978. He later served a long tutelage under the then ANC leader Mr Oliver Tambo, in London. He belonged to the group generally referred to during the liberation struggle as  overseas ANC as  his former deputy Mr. Jacob Zuma who was also on exile as  a liberation fighter based in Zambia . Mr Mbeki was the quintessential technocrat leader preferring to lead from behind rather than being very visible and populist in his political behaviour. This was in sharp contrast to Mr Jacob Zuma who is very populists in his political posture. In a country with rising unemployment and poverty in the midst of plenty, It did not take long before his former Deputy upstaged him with his populist style which the masses quickly identified with. Thus it became the norm for those opposed to him to label him as aloof and out of touch with the members of the party and the reality on the streets. Once Jacob Zuma was able to get the support and formed  strong  alliances  with three crucial groups, COSATU and SACP, and the ANC Youth League, it was inevitable for Mr Zuma to wrestle the leadership of the ANC from Mr. Mbeki. These three organisations are very powerful in South Africa and you cannot win the soul of the ANC without their support. The groups had their grievances against Mr Mbeki as they claimed that his  government had failed to deliver on the  key cardinal promises of the ANC  to reduce poverty, create employment opportunities and housing for the people. They also claimed that the HIV/AIDs and other pandemic diseases were not been fought radically.  They  averred that Mr Mbeki adopted a system of wider  distance from the trade Unions and party members, and ran the government as a business conglomerate with less government and closer proximity to the business group. All these factors ultimately led to his loss of control of the ANC even before the December 2007 party conference.
For us  in   Nigeria,   Mbeki  displayed a high sense of friendship.  As High  Commissioner, he gave me unfettered access to him. I remember the private visits to him at the Presidential  villa in Pretoria , and our sessions  discussing  issues ranging from the political situation in Nigeria, to Cote d’Ivoire, his vision for NEPAD etc. In all these discussions, he portrayed a man with deep commitment to Africa and its regeneration. He also displayed a strong passion for Nigeria and believed that our democracy must not only survive but grow very strong. He rightly believes that Nigeria, no matter what others might feel , should naturally assume the mantle of leadership of the continent. Unknown to many people,  Mr. Mbeki played a crucial role in ensuring  that  the  April  Presidential elections  in  Nigeria  were held as scheduled. 
As the curtain falls on the distinguished political career of this African statesman, I believe that Africa and the African Union especially will continue to tap on the experience of this son of Africa especially in the areas of conflict resolution and peacekeeping.  While some of us had predicted long  ago this course of events in South Africa, it is hoped that Mr. Zuma who will emerge as the President of South Africa after the April 2009 elections would ensure the continuity of the economic programmes  of the ANC , and tackle the issues of poverty and mass unemployment in a country many consider the economic power of Africa. There is a wide gap in the  economic disparity  between the blacks and other races in South Africa and the succeeding governments must quickly take action to reduce this gap.  The government must tackle head-on the containment of the spread of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The social, economic and health consequences of AIDs for South Africa are devastating. Particularly harrowing has been the rise in the number of orphans and the emotional impact on millions of children who will grow up without parents consequently leading to  increase in crime and social instability.  In a study conducted for the government last year the cost of offering treatment to all South Africans with AIDs by 2010 was estimated at between US $2.4billion and US$ 3billion a year .  This figure for any government in Africa is staggering and that is why foreign donors also criticised the posture of South African  leaders on the spread of HIV/AIDS . In the meantime, and with the election of Mr. Kgalema Motlanthe  as the interim President of South Africa, it is expected that not much will change as regards policy and posture of governance. He was until  his election the Deputy President of the ANC  and had earlier been the Secretay- General of the ANC.  He is a cool headed politician and had played a stabilising role in the conflict between   Mbeki and Zuma.
• Ambassador Ashiru, a former Nigeria High Commissioner to South Africa, writes from Lagos.