There have surely been few more disgraceful moments in South African politics than the one enacted last week when Nelson Mandela was physically hijacked by the ANC to go politicking for Jacob Zuma.
Now 90, and frail, Mandela was flown in a private plane, without his usual bodyguard and medical backup, from his Johannesburg home to Idutywa in the Eastern Cape. Repeatedly, he had told his staff that he did not want to get involved in current politics, but his hijackers neither informed nor consulted the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which usually had supervised his travel arrangements. At the rally, Zuma helped to hoist him on to the stage.
The full story is told in last week's Sunday Times, which quoted a family friend: "Shame, the old man really doesn't deserve this kind of nonsense at this time of his life".
Just what pressures the Zuma gang used to persuade Mandela to go to Idutywa are still to be revealed. An ANC spokesman gave this assurance: "Mandela still has his full senses...he won't do what he does not want to do". But South African politics are confusing, and the assumption is possible that Mandela was manoeuvred into thinking that the ANC is still an honourable institution - a legend approaching its centenary - and that it is his solemn duty to protect it.
The question persists: does Madiba understand fully that the ANC is no longer a legend? Which ANC does he support - the one-time legend? The Polokwane manifestation (and the Jacob Zuma versus Kgalema Motlanthe schism within it)? The Cope breakaway (and the Lekota versus Mvume Dandala schism within the breakaway)?
Is Madiba keenly observing the run-up to the general election battle on April 22, and if so does he agree with Thabo Mbeki's brother Moeletsi that the ANC poll in the elections could be between 48% and 55%?