THE END OF THE ANC INTELLECTUAL?

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SUBJECT: THE END OF THE ANC INTELLECTUAL?

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Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR MADELINE Q. SEIDENSTRICKER FO
R REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

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Summary
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1. (C) The ascendancy of African National Congress (ANC)
leaders such as Julius Malema, routinely described as
"uneducated" and "unpolished" by South Africans across the
socio-economic spectrum is raising questions about the future
of the ruling party as a place of ideas. The ANC still holds
policy conferences and congresses that produce
thought-provoking documents and manifestos -- early next year
the ANC intends to celebrate its 97th birthday by releasing
its latest party manifesto. Yet, even as the ANC is still
the standard-bearer of intellectual thought for liberation
movements, the party has struggled in recent years to
maintain many of its traditions -- notably those of
discussion and debate that appear to have fallen away under
the administration of former President Thabo Mbeki. The
party is likely to struggle still more to maintain such
traditions under the Jacob Zuma administration despite the
ANC President's push for greater collectivism in
decision-making and consensus in implementation. Without a
strong intellectual center, the party probably will struggle
and become vulnerable to the phenomenon of the "cult of
personality" and access to state patronage. End Summary.


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Where the ANC Came From
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2. (C) There was a time when the ANC was seen as the
international standard-bearer of intellectual thought for
liberation movements. Leaders such as Walter Sisulu, Oliver
Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Joe Slovo, Bram Fischer,
and Chris Hani were not just associated with the party but
were also thinkers linked to some of the finest academic
institutions in South Africa, if not the world. The ANC from
the post-World War II generation onward was steeped in an
intellectual tradition formed under the values of debate,
policy position papers, critical reflection, and a broader
understanding of trends such as pan-Africanism, Black
Consciousness, communist theory, and the palaver. Like the
Indian National Congress, throughout the 20th century the ANC
was at the forefront of a globalization trend that saw
liberation movements across the world sharing ideas and
tactics. Importantly, Tambo sent a message in 1955 to fellow
freedom fighters attending the Bandung conference as a way to
sharpen links between Asia and Africa. Later, the ANC valued
debate and critical reflection to such an extent that when
the party decided to launch its armed wing known as the
Umkhonto we Sizwe -- translated to "Spear of the Nation" --
against the apartheid government in 1961 writers such as
Glenn Frankel said that Mandela, Slovo, and Mbeki agonized
greatly before making their decision to pursue both
non-violent and violent fronts. Similarly, the way in which
ideas mobilized brought the various "exile" and "inzile"
experiences to bear on how ANC leaders negotiated with the
apartheid government during the Convention for a Democratic
South Africa talks in the early 1990s. Former ANC National
Executive Committee (NEC) member Raymond Suttner, himself a
legendary activist in the South African Communist Party
(SACP) and ANC, told Poloff in late November that there
"truly was a sense in those times that to advance in the ANC
one had to advance through education." Suttner, who was a
Qone had to advance through education." Suttner, who was a
lawyer, said, "I mean, how else could one have kept up with
the Mandelas, Sisulus, and Slovos of the world?" As an SACP
activist, Suttner noted that often the greatest thinkers came
up the ranks through the communist party in South Africa.

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Where the ANC Is Now: "Mbeki Killed Intellectualism"
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3. (C) The intellectual tradition of the ANC was still
strong after the landmark 1994 election, but the now ruling
party changed. Politicians, pundits, and political
scientists have long lamented the fact that the ANC's "best
and brightest" left parliamentary seats and their daily roles
in the movement for business or civil society interests
during the 1990s. Leaders such as Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo

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Sexwale, Pregs Govender, and others moved away from daily
politics to care for business opportunities or ways of
influencing government from the margins rather than from the
inside. Many of those who left did so to follow their own
career paths. Many others, however, left because they felt
threatened by Mbeki's top down leadership style. According
to ANC NEC member Ngoako Ramatlhodi fear accumulated under
Mbeki to such an extent that no one spoke out against
policies. He said, "Everyone was cowed and they allowed even
father figures like (Nelson) Mandela to be embarrassed."
Ramatlhodi noted that Mbeki had to be replaced at the 2007
ruling party congress because of the fear he instilled.
Congress of the People (COPE) leader Mosioua Lekota, the
national chairman of the ANC from 1997 to 2007, admitted in
an October speech that "the ANC has moved away from its
traditions because we (leaders and former leaders) were too
secretive and did not give the people enough of a voice." He
has stumped throughout his campaign as leader of COPE by
saying things like "An ANC that does not allow dialogue
between those with differing views is not the real ANC" or
"An ANC that encourages attacks along tribal or ethnic lines
is not the real ANC." He noted that the real ANC listened to
the people and gave them the chance to influence how the
party is run.


4. (C) Regardless of why some leaders left the ANC, what
many see in the ruling party now is a "void without much
place for intelligent commentary on policy," according to
Witswatersrand University political philosopher Daryl Glaser.
NEC member Pallo Jordan appears to agree with this
characterization. Jordan, one of the ANC's leading
intellectuals, in a November 12 address said the ANC is now a
place for "debating among the deaf." He decried the ruling
party's failure to mentor its young leaders so they can learn
tradition. Witswatersrand professor and author of the "State
of the Nation," Roger Southall told Poloff in mid-November
the ANC is becoming the "dumb and dumber." He expressed
befuddlement that the ANC has not disciplined controversial
young leaders like Malema. Southall said, "What surprises me
is that intelligent leaders such as Jordan or Policy Unit
Director General Joel Netshitenzhe have said nothing about
the harsh attacks launched by Malema and others within the
ANC's Youth League." Presidency Policy Unit analyst
Thabileng Mothabi told Poloff on December 4 that "he has a
hard time getting ministers to read policy documents." He
said, "ANC Youth League members come into meetings at the
Union Buildings (the main offices of government) with their
arms crossed and an uninterested air about them." He said,
"Look, most of the guys who support Zuma cannot even get
through their 'read books' and the only comments they make
are usually along the lines of 'You missed 'a Youth' here or
a 'government' there." Mothabi's statements suggest that ANC
Youth League members are not engaged in reading documents but
instead make comments to look like they have. A theme common
to each of these commentators is the characterization that
many of the traditions that made the ANC a standard-bearer of
liberation movements have fell away during the Mbeki years.

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Where the ANC Is Going: How Richard Hofstadter Applies
QWhere the ANC Is Going: How Richard Hofstadter Applies
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5. (C) American historian Richard Hofstadter once wrote that
the American political system often is characterized by the
tension between leaders with an "intellectual elitism" and
those who appeal more directly to the "common man." Glaser
says such tension -- which he characterized as "new to South
African politics" -- is what has happened in the last five
years within the ANC. He told Poloff in a December 8 meeting
that ANC members decided to vote for Zuma "not because saw
him as the movement's best leader but because he was a
rejection of the kind of elitist, quasi-intellectualism of
the Mbeki administration." (Note: By "quasi-intellectualism"
Glaser meant to point out how bizarre he found Mbeki's stance
on HIV. End Note.) He said that Zuma, often portrayed as a
"country bumpkin," is popular because ordinary South Africans
can relate to him. Glaser said, "In a sense his appeal is a
dumbing down of the ANC's intellectual traditions even more
than what happened under Mbeki, but this appeal is very
real." So real, in fact, that Glaser noted he believes
President Kgalema Motlanthe has no real chance of keeping the
presidency. Glaser said, "Motlanthe is a statesman in line
with Mbeki as a statesman. However, that is not what people
want right now. They want someone they can connect with."

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According to Glaser, Southall, Suttner, and University of
Pretoria professor Dirk Kotze, now more than ever there is
the "vulgarism of the intellectual." Each of these scholars
see this continuing under Zuma even though the ANC leader
appears to represent a return to formation traditions of
debate and policy position papers from the Congress of South
African Trade Unions (COSATU) and SACP that are relevant to
the ANC and read.


6. (C) With the intellectual tradition of the ANC waning,
some political analysts and commentators say the only place
to find the future of sharp dialogue and policy
recommendation is COSATU. Glaser pointed to COSATU analyst
Neil Coleman as an example of someone who is doing
intellectual work within the tripartite alliance. Even
there, however, he said there is not much value coming from
him to the entire ANC. Similarly, University of Cape Town
professor Zwelethu Jolobe told Poloff in a late November
meeting that "if there is any underpinning of intellectual
thought or ideological stance within the alliance it is
coming from COSATU." Jolobe thought there really was not
much of a culture of intellectualism anywhere, but if there
was it is coming from COSATU. Glaser and Southall lamented
that even future leaders of the ANC on college campuses such
as University of Johannesburg and University of
Witswatersrand do not show a penchant for intellectual
engagement. Glaser said, "They are fully committed to the
ANC, but often their essays suffer and they shy away from
real debates in classes." Southall noted, "Most universities
these days fail to inculcate an atmosphere that would lead to
serious discussion on policy issues or debate within a
movement. There is no intellectual tradition left at Wits."


7. (C) If the future of intellectualism in the ANC is bleak
then one must ask where that leaves the movement. The
movement probably is headed in two, not necessarily
unrelated, directions. First, there is a strong indication
that the "cult of personality" that has consumed the ANC
since Mbeki fired Zuma as Deputy President in 2005 will
continue. The dismissal of Zuma and later the fall of Mbeki
had as much to do with who each of the leaders are as it did
with economic or social policy stances. After all, Zuma
served as Mbeki's Deputy for six years without being solely
identified as pro-labor or anti-business. Moreover, many
critics point to the fact that COPE has little to offer a
voter that is different than the ANC. The underlying
characteristic of the new party is that it offers leaders
that are not associated with Zuma even though those leaders
share many of the same values as the ANC. Second, there is a
strong indication that debates over ideology could mask the
debates over who should have access to state patronage
mechanisms. Rather than the debates of old where communists
challenged other ANC stalwarts over how the future of the
South African state should look, the debates today look like
how the state can be controlled to the benefit of those in
the movement. Many critics and pundits decry the fact that
Lekota left the ANC only when he was about the lose the
benefit of his "blue light" (or flashing light used by
vehicles to move important government leaders through
traffic).

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Comment
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8. (C) The days of Sisulu, Tambo, Mandela, Mbeki, Slovo, and
Q8. (C) The days of Sisulu, Tambo, Mandela, Mbeki, Slovo, and
Hani are over, and they have been over for a long time. The
ANC is still the standard-bearer of intellectual thought for
liberation movements, but the party has struggled in recent
years to maintain many of its traditions. The party is
likely to struggle still more to maintain such traditions
under the Zuma administration, even as the ANC President
pushes for greater collectivism in decision-making and
consensus in implementation. Without a strong intellectual
center, the party probably will struggle and become
vulnerable to the phenomenon of the "cult of personality" and
access to state patronage.
BOST