Publication: Sunday Independent Issued: Date: 2005-10-30 Reporter: Reporter:

Relaxed Mbeki Turns on the Charm - and Agrees with the DA

 

Publication 

Sunday Independent
Date

2005-10-30

Reporter

Christelle Terreblanche

Web link

 

A breeze of change wafted through parliament this week as President Thabo Mbeki reached out to the opposition - and they largely reciprocated.

Unlike previous acrimonious "questions to the president" sessions in the national assembly, which happen quarterly - Mbeki was cracking jokes, actively promoted the right to participation and protest and, well, seemed to enjoy himself.

Gone was the nervous, agitated Mbeki who fiddled at the podium with his notes and played brinkmanship with the official opposition and out came his rare charm.

The president called a Pan Africanist Congress MP "comrade" to applause and laughter and to more hilarity said that he was making history when he agreed on an issue with the Democratic Alliance.

The opposition mostly responded in kind, laughing at his quips and keeping heckling at a minimum, with only some DA and Inkatha Freedom Party MPs abstaining from applauding his every response to six questions and follow-up debates.

Everyone seemed to be on the same page, for once.

One reason for the jovial atmosphere could have been the absence of Tony Leon, the DA leader, who usually leads heckling, pointed attacks on Mbeki.

But a more significant reason may be at hand.

The name of Mbeki's axed former deputy, Jacob Zuma, was hardly mentioned in the chamber, and neither was the arms deal, the saga *1 allegedly behind the corruption charges against Zuma.

Could it be that otherwise hostile MPs were rushing to Mbeki's aid now that they knew how the fall-out in the crisis around Zuma's trial was taking its toll on the president? Mbeki, among others, has had to see his effigy burned by Zuma's angry supporters.

Or was it merely a case of throwing their support in with him due to the spectre of populism Zuma's support campaign has raised?

Neither Mbeki nor the MPs raised the crisis in the ANC around Zuma, but many a subtle remark could be ascribed to the saga.

In the subtext to Mbeki's answers there was every indication that he was not about to let up on his drive to foster clean administration and root out "careerism", calling for the heads of "self-seekers", something the media had already linked to the issue of Zuma, who on the same day made vague references to leaders who are reluctant to step down from positions of power.

A provisional "truce" agreement among ANC alliance partners bars the two leaders from making public remarks about each other.

To much amusement, Mbeki referred to Themba Godi, the PAC deputy president, as "Comrade Godi". He is the incoming chairperson of the standing committee on public accounts *2, chosen by the ANC from a host of opposition party candidates.

Godi asked Mbeki whether the "ongoing tensions regarding the selection of candidates for the local government elections will adversely affect" the approaching elections and what the underlying tensions were.

Mbeki repeated recent concerns that many councillors aspired to positions because it gave them access to patronage.

"It's quite obvious that there is very prevalent in our society a very strong acquisitive, materialistic spirit ... and therefore this drive for people to acquire wealth as quickly as they can without regard to any legality," Mbeki said.
This remark, too, has been linked to the Zuma saga.

In an apparent attempt to reach out to civil society and Zuma supporters, Mbeki made the point several times during the two-hour session that protesters' rights to voice concerns and demonstrate should be respected. This was read by most observers as a sign that he was not about to clamp down on Zuma's supporters.

Many of the vexed issues that usually cause heated debate during question time, such as HIV/Aids, were given a low profile, while Zimbabwe came up only twice, with Mbeki again defending his quiet diplomacy stance and giving assurances to those who fear Zimbabwe-style land reform. However, he agreed with all that the pace of South African land reform was too slow.

Mbeki also made a "historic" departure from customary hostile exchanges with the official opposition, telling a stunned and applauding assembly that he agreed with the DA.

The DA's Willem Doman asked Mbeki whether he believed that party discipline was to blame for bad administration, poor delivery and corruption at local level.

"This must be a historic day, honourable member, because I agree with you. I am putting this in my diary: Today I agreed with the DA," Mbeki said.

With acknowledgement to Christelle Terreblanche and the Sunday Independent.


*1  The Alpha and the Omega.

*2  There is nothing amusing about this - the new chairman of SCOPA is indeed a comrade of the ruling party.