Mbeki and Monopolisation of Power
Former President Mbeki penned an article titled “Yet Another Myth: Mbeki and the Monopolisation of Power”. In this article the former president sought to present his version of how the ANC functioned and its interaction with the State. In the process – as has been the case since his first letter – the former president sought to insulate himself from known history of his term of office by, this time around, trying to dispel what the termed a myth of him monopolising power.
In this article, he enumerated a number of processes which were and are involved in decision-making in the ANC. However, his consequent observation is telling and maybe the source of what appeared as the centralisation of power in the Union Building – leading to delegates in Polokwane Conference reaffirming the ANC as a strategic centre of power.
President Mbeki makes an observation that “…the ruling party, the ANC, did not and could not have the capacity that the State has to generate and consider the kind of enormous details which Government had to deal with as it translated broad policies into specific programmes relating to more than thirty (30) Government Departments. Fully understanding this, the ANC Headquarters and the NEC, for instance, never intervened in Government work pretending that they could have the same capacity with regard to matters of detail as would the Ministers and Deputy Ministers and the National Cabinet.”
Although, Cde Mbeki’s observation is justified in technical terms, he cannot escape criticism that his observation is also motivated by political posturing. His observation should take into account the practical concerns in relation to the political issues that marked his term in office. His preferred argument also confirms the unhealthy interplay of the political dynamics between the movement and government during his tenure.
This is when power shifted from one source to the other depending on the political mood. It was a strategic positioning by Cde Mbeki to use government as a shelter to seek refugee and insulated himself where he had better control of the situation instead of dealing directly with his comrades. It is common cause that state organs such as departments have enormous systems of control, inter alia- decision making processes, knowledge and information management systems, structures and rules. These were the things that were captured during his tenure as part of a power play to limit the role and influence of others, especially those out of government. This was another reality that found expression in the discussion documents of the movement leading to the ANC 52nd National Conference in 2007.