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Zuma tries to stamp out worries over leadership
AFP - Tuesday, September 21
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Zuma tries to stamp out worries over leadership
DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) - – South African President Jacob Zuma sought Monday to shut down speculation that his leadership is under threat as he opened a key policy conference of the ruling African National Congress.
The five-day meeting in the port city of Durban poses a major test to his presidency, after sharp criticism from labour allies and deepening rivalries within the ANC.
But Zuma, who has three years left in his term, told the opening of the conference that any moves to succeed him were premature.
"We must take a decision that those who engage in such activities are in fact undermining the organisation and its work and at worst, are undermining the unity of the organisation," he said. "Action must be taken against them."
"Mobilising and lobbying for succession so early also gives the wrong impression that the ANC comprises groups of people who are preoccupied with fighting for influential positions to advance personal interests instead of advancing the programme of the organisation," he added.
The alliance between the ANC and the main labour federation Cosatu was strained by a recent public service strike that shut down government for three weeks and by unionists' calls for more pro-poor economic policies.
In August, Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi said the alliance with the ANC was "dysfunctional" and accused Zuma of turning the country into a "predatory state".
In a speech that touched repeatedly on the theme of unity, Zuma insisted Monday that the alliance remained strong despite the tensions.
"All the bold headlines about the imminent death of the alliance are a waste of time and ink because the alliance will live for a long time to come," he said.
But he said the public servants' strike required "serious introspection" by the party and Cosatu.
On top of Zuma's problems with Cosatu comes a challenge from the ANC's own youth league, whose leader Julius Malema has publicly challenged his leadership.
Malema is spearheading calls to nationalise mines, a move that the ANC says would drive away foreign investors. But Malema says he will not support any leader who disagrees with him.
Malema declined to comment following Zuma's speech.
But standing at his side, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela -- ex-wife of former president Nelson Mandela and a long-time ANC luminary -- drove home the unity theme, saying Zuma's speech was not a rebuke to the youth league.
"These are our children and no matter how hard you can try to have screaming headlines, there's no tension at all," she told journalists.
Blade Nzimande, head of the South African Communist Party -- also a player in the ruling alliance -- said ANC partners should heed Zuma's call to discipline.
"Anyone who actually doesn't abide by discipline, those who speak recklessly, demagogically, in a manner that causes stresses within the organisation, action must be taken," he said.
Delegates to the conference said Zuma had delivered the expected performance.
"He touched on issues that we were expecting him to touch," said an ANC member from KwaZulu-Natal province who asked not to be named.
"The essence of the (conference) is not about succession debate, it's about reviewing policies we've agreed upon... and to call for unity among the alliance."
Some 2,800 party members, dressed in the yellow and green of the ANC and singing songs from the anti-apartheid struggle, converged on Durban for the meeting.
Zuma understands all too well the potential impact of the meeting on his presidency.
In 2005, he used the general council to set the stage for his eventual defeat of former president Thabo Mbeki as party leader and then as head of state.
That dramatic upset still echoes, and Cosatu is using the possibility of similar upheaval as leverage in pushing its goals.
Cosatu is pressuring the government to implement pro-labour reforms, including abandoning its policy of inflation targeting and taking action to weaken the currency, the rand, in order to boost exports.
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