Back-room huddle to save Motlanthe

Senior ANC leaders were yesterday working furiously to pull off a "rescue plan" that would let Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe keep his position as one of the top six in the party.

President Jacob Zuma received the most provincial nominations to lead the ANC.

But party leaders said yesterday that Motlanthe, who is yet to endorse a campaign to challenge Zuma, will be asked not to accept a nomination for the presidency.

Party members close to both Motlanthe and Zuma said a plan was needed to stop the party imploding.

"The winner-takes-all mentality should be avoided at all costs.

"We have seen what happened in Polokwane when we refused to make compromises, and today we are still managing that damage," said one.

Though the Motlanthe campaign failed to gain sufficient votes, there were plans to safeguard his position as ANC deputy president.

A Zuma lobbyist said there was still time for Motlanthe to be saved - provided the ANC members believed in him - and the party kept united.

It all depended on what Motlanthe did in the 10 days before the party's elective conference opened in Mangaung.

"Remember, Cyril Ramaphosa is just a stop-gap measure [as a nominee for the deputy presidency]. We don't harbour evil against the deputy president," the Zuma lobbyist said.

Since the ANC opened the leadership race in October, it has been beset by controversy, disruptions and violence.

Though some provinces are yet to finalise their nominations, Zuma's second-term presidential bid received a major boost early yesterday when he was nominated by a majority of the branches in Eastern Cape.

Other provinces that have nominated him are KwaZuluNatal, Mpumalanga, the Free State and Northern Cape.

Motlanthe has the support of most of the Gauteng branches.

Zuma also has the backing of the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans' Association and of the ANC Women's League.

Motlanthe won the youth league's nomination.

The North West ANC was scheduled to hold its nomination conference in Rustenburg yesterday after faction fighting led leaders to hold parallel conferences on Friday.

One faction, led by provincial chairman Supra Mahumapelo - a staunch Zuma supporter - held a nomination conference at Haartbeesport Dam. Motlanthe-backer Kabelo Mataboge, the provincial secretary, convened a meeting in Mafikeng.

After the party's national executive committee intervened, the groups agreed to hold one conference.

Voting was expected to be concluded by late last night.

The efforts to unite the party follow the warning of Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi that the exclusion of Motlanthe from the ANC leadership would polarise the party.

But while senior party leaders scrambled to pull together a deal, Zuma downplayed the rivalry between him and Motlanthe, saying ANC members were merely exercising their democratic right.

Speaking to journalists in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday, Zuma said the much-debated showdown might not happen.

"ANC members have the right to make preferences; that [Zuma and Motlanthe] contest comes in the context of democracy if it is there. At the moment, nobody knows whether it is there or not. But, if it comes, it is part of the democratic processes of the ANC," Zuma said.

SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande urged the ANC yesterday to use Mangaung to restore the party.

"We would like to see a leadership that is committed to driving radical transformation. We do not want a leadership of tenderpreneurs and we are unapologetic about that," Nzimande told an SACP committee meeting on the East Rand.

Political analyst Ebrahim Fakir said the ANC should, instead of looking for ways to retain Motlanthe, consider making leadership and policy decisions that would benefit South Africa instead of the party.

"There is still hope that he can be nominated as deputy president from the floor provided there is 25% support from delegates.

"Why should they be striking a deal? That is the trouble. Someone has to be asking the question. Are these guys interested in rehabilitating the ANC, because the ANC is in trouble?

"They have to exercise their minds on what is good for the country, what is good for society, not necessarily what is good for the ANC," Fakir said. - Additional reporting by Sapa