BRUCE WHITFIELD: Party haunted by regime change hastens its exit
It's nothing short of ironic that the ANC is hanging on to its biggest political liability
History has a funny way of repeating itself. Just as Thabo Mbeki misread the mood at Polokwane that saw the ascension of Jacob Zuma to the presidency, the ANC this week voted to keep a crippled leader in power and in so doing has called time on its political tenure. It's nothing short of ironic that the ANC, obsessed with opposition parties fomenting regime change, has done precisely that by hanging on to its biggest political liability. Far from betraying the movement they represent, those who voted to have Zuma removed are the true party loyalists who can see a future in which the ANC is consigned to the history books as a governing party. The biggest winner this week was not Mmusi Maimane, Julius Malema or Bantu Holomisa. It wasn't even President Jacob Zuma, but the speaker and ANC chair Baleka Mbete who emerged as a guardian of constitutional values. She allowed the secret ballot, and ensured that she was seen to not vote in the confidence motion on Tuesday due to a constitution...
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