new "coalition of the wounded" has emerged in the ANC ahead of the party's national general council, with many of President Jacob Zuma's once most ardent backers now joining forces to stop his serving a second term.
It took slightly more than two years for Zuma to alienate some of his staunchest supporters, including the ANC Youth League. Now his future lies in the hands of the left -- Cosatu and the South African Communist Party -- at a time when alliance relations are at a nadir.
According to several ANC sources linked to the Youth League, the SACP, Cosatu and the government, many party leaders have their eye on higher office or want to punish Zuma for not rewarding them sufficiently for their support in the run-up to the ANC's 2007 Polokwane conference. They are said to include Siphiwe Nyanda, the communications minister, Fikile Mbalula, the deputy police minister, and Julius Malema, the league's president.
Lobbyists wanting Zuma to retain his position at the ANC's next conference in 2012 claim Nyanda aspires to become the party's treasurer general, although this week Nyanda denied this, saying he has "no such *intentions".
"I can't choose for myself what I want to be. I went to Polokwane as an ordinary branch member of the ANC and was elected to the national executive committee. The ANC decides, I don't have a say," he said.
ANC sources said that Nyanda was also resentful that he had not landed the defence portfolio, which went to Lindiwe Sisulu.
Some Zuma supporters are suspicious of former intelligence chief Billy Masetlha, saying he hankers after higher office -- something he denies.
'Top six'
Zuma lobbyists say that Masetlha, who was not given a Cabinet position, wants to be in the ANC's "top six", a platform from which, he believes, he can counter detractors effectively.
He denied this, saying he had previously been approached to be a minister, but had declined. He said he had no ambition to have a higher office in the ANC.
Source: Mail & Guardian
It took slightly more than two years for Zuma to alienate some of his staunchest supporters, including the ANC Youth League. Now his future lies in the hands of the left -- Cosatu and the South African Communist Party -- at a time when alliance relations are at a nadir.
According to several ANC sources linked to the Youth League, the SACP, Cosatu and the government, many party leaders have their eye on higher office or want to punish Zuma for not rewarding them sufficiently for their support in the run-up to the ANC's 2007 Polokwane conference. They are said to include Siphiwe Nyanda, the communications minister, Fikile Mbalula, the deputy police minister, and Julius Malema, the league's president.
Lobbyists wanting Zuma to retain his position at the ANC's next conference in 2012 claim Nyanda aspires to become the party's treasurer general, although this week Nyanda denied this, saying he has "no such *intentions".
"I can't choose for myself what I want to be. I went to Polokwane as an ordinary branch member of the ANC and was elected to the national executive committee. The ANC decides, I don't have a say," he said.
ANC sources said that Nyanda was also resentful that he had not landed the defence portfolio, which went to Lindiwe Sisulu.
Some Zuma supporters are suspicious of former intelligence chief Billy Masetlha, saying he hankers after higher office -- something he denies.
'Top six'
Zuma lobbyists say that Masetlha, who was not given a Cabinet position, wants to be in the ANC's "top six", a platform from which, he believes, he can counter detractors effectively.
He denied this, saying he had previously been approached to be a minister, but had declined. He said he had no ambition to have a higher office in the ANC.
Source: Mail & Guardian
