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Thabo Mbeki & The Battle for the Soul of the ANC
Thabo Mbeki plays a crucial role in world politics, but to many people he is an enigma. In this book Gumede pulls together his insights from years of reporting on the Mbeki presidency to create a sophisticated but easy-to-read account of power in South Africa. He explores the complex position that Mbeki occupies and reveals the underlying political and personal tensions that help explain the forces that have created one of the world's most powerful and enigmatic leaders. Covering Mbeki's attempts to modernize the economy and kick-start an African Renaissance, and investigating his controversial stance on issues from AIDS to Zimbabwe, the book offers invaluable insights into the arcane machinations behind political decisions that touch the lives of millions every day.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 12, 2021
How we perceive, events, things or people is always a subjective matter. More so when it comes to politicians, for it is in their political interest to be many things to different people. It is therefore not a surprise that I thought I knew Thabo Mbeki, albeit not very well, but this book has just shaded a Mbeki different to the one I knew. I am fully cognisant of the fact that biographers, like all of us, are subjective. They are either fans or foes of their subjects, hardly neutral. Hence, it is important to read this book knowing that the author was not a huge fan.
Be that as it may, I really liked the book, particularly how the author tied Mbeki's battle for the ANC's soul with a historical analysis of the ANC's politics and policies. Many of the ideological divisions permeating through the ANC at this present juncture have historical roots.
In a nutshell, the book articulates Mbeki's legacy. I have summed up this legacy into five key topics, which are:
1. His leadership skills in running both the ANC and South Africa. People labelled him an autocrat. Running party and country like his little fiefdom. Side-lining those who disagreed with him and rewarding those he agreed with. His tenure as president, decision making was characterised as top down. Perhaps, his leadership style was born from his own experience in exile during their liberation struggle when the ANC operated underground. Then there was very little or no consultation at all, decisions where taken by the leadership and everyone else had to kow-tow the party line.
2. His management of the economy. Thabo Mbeki is a neo-liberal economist to the bone , he truly believes in free market capitalism. Even though the ANC continued to talk about pro poor socialist language, his tenure as president was characterised by privatisation, and other pro-business policies. These contradictions and his lack of consultation resulted in him alienating COSATU and SACP. To those on the left, Mbeki was too eager to please the market at the expense of radically addressing the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. For example, the ANC adopted the ineffective land reform policy of willing buyer and willing seller in order not to rattle investors and the market. To the fans of neo-liberalism, Mbeki's privatisation was riddled with corruption through his BEE programme and did not go far enough. He was trying and perhaps succeeded in transforming the ANC from a liberation movement into a modern democratic socialist party.
3. His foreign policy.
4. The Zimbabwe question
5. His aids denial. Perhaps his biggest dent on his legacy is his refusal
The book is very informative, although I would say a tiny bit repetitive because some stories are covered in multiple chapters, though with a slight twist or slightly additional information.
Be that as it may, I really liked the book, particularly how the author tied Mbeki's battle for the ANC's soul with a historical analysis of the ANC's politics and policies. Many of the ideological divisions permeating through the ANC at this present juncture have historical roots.
In a nutshell, the book articulates Mbeki's legacy. I have summed up this legacy into five key topics, which are:
1. His leadership skills in running both the ANC and South Africa. People labelled him an autocrat. Running party and country like his little fiefdom. Side-lining those who disagreed with him and rewarding those he agreed with. His tenure as president, decision making was characterised as top down. Perhaps, his leadership style was born from his own experience in exile during their liberation struggle when the ANC operated underground. Then there was very little or no consultation at all, decisions where taken by the leadership and everyone else had to kow-tow the party line.
2. His management of the economy. Thabo Mbeki is a neo-liberal economist to the bone , he truly believes in free market capitalism. Even though the ANC continued to talk about pro poor socialist language, his tenure as president was characterised by privatisation, and other pro-business policies. These contradictions and his lack of consultation resulted in him alienating COSATU and SACP. To those on the left, Mbeki was too eager to please the market at the expense of radically addressing the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. For example, the ANC adopted the ineffective land reform policy of willing buyer and willing seller in order not to rattle investors and the market. To the fans of neo-liberalism, Mbeki's privatisation was riddled with corruption through his BEE programme and did not go far enough. He was trying and perhaps succeeded in transforming the ANC from a liberation movement into a modern democratic socialist party.
3. His foreign policy.
4. The Zimbabwe question
5. His aids denial. Perhaps his biggest dent on his legacy is his refusal
The book is very informative, although I would say a tiny bit repetitive because some stories are covered in multiple chapters, though with a slight twist or slightly additional information.
April 3, 2011
I picked this book up because the chapter on South Africa in Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is formed in major part by this book.
The better parts of the book deal with how the ANC did a U-turn from being a left-nationalist organisation to becoming an organisation which unshackled the burden of the left, workers and the poor in favour of big business and privatisation a la GEAR (Growth Employment and Re-distribution). Its a very good case study for how radicalism can become recuperated from the pressures put on them by international agencies and the domestic economy. Maybe everything would have been different under communist hardliner - Chris Hani, but Mbeki's leftist rival was killed by fearful Afrikaners before events could truly unfold. Has the author acknowledges, "if there is a single defining event in the battle for the organisations soul, it must be the internal struggle over economic policy." (Page 165)
The immediate post-apartheid narrative however is the pinnacle of the book. Alongside this there are some good commentaries on AIDS, Mbeki's Tony Blair style of political cronyism, the ANC's relationship with Robert Mugabe and the anti-globalisation currents that are gaining in South Africa. The remaining and for the most part, reoccurring theme is that of a scatter-gun approach which imbues the dialogue with an exhausting hint towards social policy and political commentary which makes for difficult reading.
A book whereby the essays should be selected according to relevance, rather than something to be read from cover to cover.
The better parts of the book deal with how the ANC did a U-turn from being a left-nationalist organisation to becoming an organisation which unshackled the burden of the left, workers and the poor in favour of big business and privatisation a la GEAR (Growth Employment and Re-distribution). Its a very good case study for how radicalism can become recuperated from the pressures put on them by international agencies and the domestic economy. Maybe everything would have been different under communist hardliner - Chris Hani, but Mbeki's leftist rival was killed by fearful Afrikaners before events could truly unfold. Has the author acknowledges, "if there is a single defining event in the battle for the organisations soul, it must be the internal struggle over economic policy." (Page 165)
The immediate post-apartheid narrative however is the pinnacle of the book. Alongside this there are some good commentaries on AIDS, Mbeki's Tony Blair style of political cronyism, the ANC's relationship with Robert Mugabe and the anti-globalisation currents that are gaining in South Africa. The remaining and for the most part, reoccurring theme is that of a scatter-gun approach which imbues the dialogue with an exhausting hint towards social policy and political commentary which makes for difficult reading.
A book whereby the essays should be selected according to relevance, rather than something to be read from cover to cover.
June 13, 2019
One of the books which really helped me understand South African politics.
Still not sure what I think of Thabo Mbeki.
Still not sure what I think of Thabo Mbeki.
May 22, 2014
this book portrays the complexities of the movemen'ts ideologies and how TM battled to break his enigmatic persona and drive his interpretation of the mandate given to him
Want to Read
October 14, 2014Awesome
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews