Kgalema Motlanthe could be tough on Mugabe
Local News
September 23, 2008 | By Metro Staff Writer | © zimbabwemetro.com ⋅
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South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) will name party deputy leader Kgalema Motlanthe as the country’s interim president until the poll, expected around April, after the ousting of President Thabo Mbeki.
ANC president Jacob Zuma said that the party would ensure a smooth transition and economic policy continuity while he also strongly hinted his deputy could stand in as president pending new elections in a speech aimed at calming the nerves of foreign investors rattled by the forced departure of pro-business Mbeki.
“We have in cabinet many experienced ministers, including the deputy president of the ANC, Kgalema Motlanthe,” said Zuma.
“I’m convinced that if given that responsibility, he would be equal to the task.”
Born in 1949 and elected ANC deputy president at the party’s 52nd national conference in December 2007, Motlanthe is a left-leaning intellectual, widely respected by both the radical leftists and business tycoons within the ANC. He is seen as a figure who could help heal the deepest divisions in the party’s history.
However, Motlanthe’s strong links with South Africa’s powerful labour movement – he is a former secretary general of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) – could mean he favours a more robust policy towards Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
NUM’s mother body, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), has led calls for tougher action against Mugabe who it says has no legitimate claim to power after his re-election in a June presidential run-off election boycotted by the opposition because of political violence.
Zuma, who will no doubt work closely with Motlanthe as they manage the transition from the Mbeki era, has openly criticised Mugabe in the past.
Zimbabwean analysts said on Monday that the coming in of Montlathe as interim president and Zuma’s expected ascendancy to the throne next year represents a shift in South Africa to a leadership that – if not openly hostile to Mugabe – will at the very least not be accommodating to the veteran leader.
John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe senior political science lecturer, said: “Robert Mugabe will be wise to reach a settlement with the MDC because the longer he takes the more he is likely to come under pressure from the new South African leadership.”
South African observers described Motlanthe as level-headed and the best qualified to help the country navigate through its worst political crisis since the end of apartheid in 1994.
“He’s a very solid person and if you’ve read his statements he always avoids wild rhetoric. He seems to also avoid making enemies and in the present political climate that’s a good thing,” said Keith Gottschalk, a political analyst at the University of the Western Cape.
“Certainly, most would regard him as presidential material.”
Motlanthe is former student activist and a former soldier in the ANC’s military wing UmKhonto we Sizwe who was jailed on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela and Zuma under the racist apartheid regime.
Under pressure from the new ANC leadership dominated by supporters of Zuma, Mbeki this year appointed Motlanthe as a Member of Parliament and as Minister without Portfolio. This was seen as a step towards a smooth transition to a future Zuma government.
Additional Reporting by Zimonline
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Thats why i am a dreamer- everything’s so nice when i am dreaming. WHY DO MDC PEOPLE DREAM FROM DAY TO DAY? Dont follow morgan’s ways because munofira mudondo.Tough on mugabe what? He has enough problems in South Africa this fellow.Imi ka imi. Zimbabwe yakatorwa negidi zvedi . Any one anoda kuita get involved zvisana nebasa ano kidimiswa.
Lets focus on this GNU. MDC has now realised they signed a ****ed up deal with no time tables-no agreements on ministries etc and now they want to shift the blame away from mugabe and pass the next dirty job of reviving the deal to the leader of South Africa. Why are you forever begging for help from others? When will you ever stand on your own two feet? Zve mdc ndazvitadza….seriously mugabe did not sign this deal for mdc - he signed on behalf of Zanu pf and the liberation people of zimbabwe.
Please Blame your bloody leadership for signing Ndove dze deal. Did we not hear morgan ranting on about how he will nevr sign a bad deal? yes yes yes—we heard your president say so.Now he has signed a **** deal—get rid of that bastard now !!!!!! he has failed !!!!!! if i was a mdc supporter i would be barking mad at my leaders. Vote of no confidenc like mbeki. Morgan its your time to Go..go -go .hamba –enda watadza. iri idofo. when will you people realise that?
prophets of doom! u just want to look for anything negative in any story concerning Zim. are the administrators of this site even Zimbabwean? coz the way you go on it seems u like division and dissention
scarface
chi CIO chakapinda mumitezo yako yese. Ndimi makauraya anaNdira . ana Bukacheza..munofunga kuit havana hama here dzinoda revenge. Zvifurirei tione. Munotaurisa anaScarface. Itai kunge anaShiri mhondi dzakanyarara, asi ropa raakadeura kuMatebeleland harirovi, inga unozviziva wani.
ndinopika naNdira ini.Chimwe chikomba tasa.
klklklklkl
i have never killed and i never want to unless you step on my toes. i respect all human beings and please dont push me because i am a nice guy. but you wouldn’t like me when i am angry.i give facts as they come and most mdc supporters dont like it.
Morgan should get a vote of no confidence. He has failed but that is not to say he has not tried. Its time for a fresh mdc face that looks young and handsome but also educated to uplift the young.Chinjai benzi rino signer mapaper risina kuverenga.How many opportunities does he need to **** things up? Had he signed the right deal right now all this nonsense about ministries would be a non issue.is that a fact guys ve mdc? chokwadi chinorwandza but at times you must agree with scarface. I tell it like it is. Even in zanu pf we need a fresh face now because our old man needs time to relax soon. He has done more than we expected after the war. Land to the majority. Black empowerment etc..in south africa they have not taken these decisions yet..cowards.
But to move on we need a fresh zanu pf face to take over from our god father.As for the mdc this guy has been nothing but a liability all the time.
MARCH—–failed to unite the two mdc parties-opportunity lost.
JUNE—pulled out last minute —opportunity gone
SEPT 11 —-signed a bad deal after all those promises of never signing a bad deal with his fingure.
all these missed opportunities could have brought you the change you cry for . He is not a decision maker forever consulting foreign agents like odinga etc.We are now stuck with these ministry issues because he signed a bad deal. Mugabe did not force him ti sign.
I have noticed guys like baba-emmily etc have given up on morgan by their absense from this forum.did he ( morgan ) sign a bad deal or not? Let us know pliz. If the answer is yes then sack him. He is your biggest liability and you have put too much faith in one man. Try Moyo or Biti but after yesterday’s speech at the Labour party conference i would stick to Biti. At least he has some education.The only issue with him was the handling of the June elections…now that was a major disaster…he knows it too.
Morgan please resign for you promised us a good deal then signed a bad one. You let us down. Not me scarface but the mdc supporters like Baba.
Scarface or Scumface, whatever, what do you mean, iwe munhu weZanu,mukadzi waRobert Matibili wave kuudza Mdc zvekuita manje…..aaaah, haunyare here iwe,vanhu veZanu makavata chaizvo you think mchiri muna 1980,pamaiimba bereka sabhu tiende???Zanu yatoparara whether you like it or not scumface!Just a simple advice, chisiyana neZanu nekuti mdc yakatouya zvachose!
This bodes well. Mr Motlanthe is a good man, and will not take nonsense from anyone.
Bullies and manipulators like Mugabe and his band need a firm hand to make them understand that Zim is not theirs to treat like a plaything, milk like a cow, and lie systematically to their people.
You know, that agreement was signed by the MDC factions in good faith, and all they have received in return is bad faith.
Mugabe and Zanu-PF have no integrity, no honesty, no openness and are not worthy of any kind of respect - they have had nearly 30 years to demonstrate how well they can run a small but wonderful country and have shown themselves to be totally incompetent at that, preferring to blame everyone but themselves. There is no “western conspiracy” - that is a fantasy created to keep power. The fact is that no state can exist in isolation, and the appalling and incompetent behaviour by Mugabe over the years has resulted in sanctions and isolation.
The Isolation is entirely the responsibility of Mugabe and ZPF. Entirely. No-one intelligent wants to deal with people like that. No other nation will throw good money after bad, so no investment. Why should they?
The kind of rhetoric that is used by Mugabe & Co. died out in the rest of the world in the1980’s. Intellectually the world has moved along - a LONG way along - while Zim stays in splendid state-controlled isolation espousing ideologies that failed spectacularly nearly thirty years ago and using language that just makes them look utterly ridiculous on a world stage.
Mugabe is NOT a revolutionary - he is an ultra-right wing conservative, trying at all costs to keep an elite in power so that they can take what little money there is - leaving ordinary Zimbabweans scraping for beans in the dust.
Mugabe and ZPF lock Zim in the past, politically, economically and socially. While philosophies like that remain - Zim will remain isolated. It really is as simple as that.
The only hope for Zim as a nation is to embrace change. Big, Big Change.