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51st National Conference of the African National Congress

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51st National Conference of the African National Congress
← 1997 16–20 December 2002 (2002-12-16 – 2002-12-20) 2007 →
3,400 party delegates
 
Candidate Thabo Mbeki
Delegate vote Unopposed
President before election

Thabo Mbeki

 Elected President

Thabo Mbeki

The 51st National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held at the University of Stellenbosch in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, from 16 to 20 December 2002, during the ANC's 90th anniversary.[1] President Thabo Mbeki was re-elected to the party presidency and, notably, there was no change in other five top leadership positions except for Deputy Secretary General. There was also little competition for other spots on the National Executive Committee (NEC). This ANC conference has thus been called "the quietest in its history."[2]

The theme of the conference was "People's Power in Action – Phambili Mavoluntiya – Afrika ke Nako."[3] 3,400 voting delegates attended, including 3,060 from the provincial branches.[1] The Zimbabwean ruling party, Zanu-PF, were also invited as observers.[4][5] Alongside Mbeki, the conference re-elected Jacob Zuma as Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe as Secretary General, Terror Lekota as National Chairperson, and Mendi Msimang as Treasurer General; the new addition was Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, who was appointed unopposed as Deputy Secretary General when the incumbent declined to take another term.

Despite tensions within the party – including rumours of potential electoral challenges to Mbeki and other top leaders – and between Mbeki and the ANC's Tripartite Alliance partners, the only significant disagreement among delegates was about a resolution supporting Black Economic Empowerment, which was ultimately adopted. The conference is often remembered for Mbeki's biting speech during the closing session, which some commentators believe exacerbated divisions between Mbeki and the party's left wing.[6] At the 2004 general elections, to which the conference was a precursor, the ANC won a supermajority of 69.69% of the national vote, the most it had won since 1994 or has won since.

Background

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The lack of conflict at the conference was not a result of harmony within the ANC – scandals related to the Arms Deal and HIV/AIDS denialism were ongoing, and there had been several highly public internal disputes in the preceding months. Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete had publicly accused Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale, and Mathews Phosa, all popular senior ANC members, of spearheading a political conspiracy against Mbeki, including by spreading rumours that Mbeki had been complicit in the assassination of Chris Hani in 1993.[5][7] At the same time, Mbeki's relationship with Winnie Mandela had visibly worsened.[8] Moreover, a letter to Deputy President Jacob Zuma had been leaked to the media, in which Mandela said that Mbeki had accused her of spreading rumours that he was a philanderer and asked Zuma to intervene.[9] Mbeki's relationship with Zuma also declined, and in 2001 Zuma announced publicly that he had no presidential ambitions, reportedly because he was asked to by the NEC.[5] Historian Tom Lodge has interpreted these and other public spats as efforts by Mbeki loyalists to defend him against potential challengers at the 2002 conference.[5][7]

Our movement will have to take stern action against those who have thus acted to divide our movement, even as they sat among us wearing ANC T-shirts.

– Thabo Mbeki's closing speech to the 51st Conference[10]

By 2002, Mbeki's relationship with the ANC's Tripartite Alliance partners, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), had become highly (and publicly) acrimonious, particularly due to disputes over his neoliberal economic policies.[11][12] Although this acrimony did not translate into open conflict at the conference, it did result in some of the conference's most tense and memorable moments. There was "lively debate"[5] over resolutions supporting Black Economic Empowerment and the developmental role of "the emergent black capitalist class."[13] The resolutions passed, with some opposition expressed by the unions[5] and none expressed by the SACP.[14] In his closing address, Mbeki attacked what he called "ultra-leftists" who attempted to sow division and factionalism in the ANC. He threatened them with "stern action" for having distributed at the conference so-called special lists of their preferred NEC nominees.[15][10]

Leadership election

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The conference appointed the following individuals to the ANC's "Top Six" positions:[16]

In 2001, there had been rumours that a group within the ANC might try to unseat Mbeki, perhaps with Zuma or Joel Netshitenzhe as the challenging candidate.[9] There had also been rumours that some provinces planned to support Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the chairmanship, that certain groups planned to support Lekota for the deputy presidency, and that other leftist groups planned to retract their support for Motlanthe.[5] However, ultimately, none of the positions were contested. The provinces had only nominated incumbents of the Top Six, and no nominations were proposed from the floor of the conference.[5] Mthembi-Mahanyele was appointed unopposed as Deputy Secretary General when the incumbent, Thenjiwe Mtintso, declined a second term on the grounds of ill health; there were no other changes to the composition of the Top Six between 1997 and 2007.[17]

Election of the National Executive Committee

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See also: List of members

The additional 60 members of the NEC were elected from a very short list of 71 nominees, 36 of whom had been unanimously supported by all nine provinces during the nominations phase.[17] There were 101 nominees at the beginning of the conference, but some names were removed, reportedly as a result of horse-trading between provinces.[17][11] Gwede Mantashe, the Secretary General of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), was not included on the consolidated list – according to some accounts, he withdrew his nomination in order to sidestep the tensions between COSATU, of which NUM was an influential member, and the ANC.[17] Businessman and former Mpumalanga Premier Mathews Phosa was dropped from the consolidated list, but was nonetheless elected to the NEC.[17][5] The results of the voting were announced at the beginning of the closing session on 20 December,[18] and the following candidates received the most votes, in order:[19][15]

  1. Trevor Manuel (2,800 votes)
  2. Cyril Ramaphosa (2,778 votes)
  3. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
  4. Thoko Didiza
  5. Penuell Maduna
  6. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
  7. Sydney Mufamadi
  8. Kader Asmal
  9. Zola Skweyiya
  10. Pallo Jordan

References

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  1. ^ a b "51st National Conference, 2002". ANC. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  2. ^ Friedman, Steven (26 February 2013). "ANC can't control its campaigning". Rhodes University. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  3. ^ Radebe, Jeff (13 August 2002). "51st National Conference: Policy and Political Processes towards Conference". ANC. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  4. ^ "All eyes on Boesak, Winnie at ANC conference". The Mail & Guardian. 1 January 2002. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lodge, Tom (2004). "The ANC and the Development of Party Politics in Modern South Africa". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 42 (2): 189–219. doi:10.1017/S0022278X04000096. ISSN 0022-278X. JSTOR 3876224. S2CID 153480701.
  6. ^ Gevisser, Mark (31 March 2009). A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the Future of the South African Dream. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-230-62020-9.
  7. ^ a b Lodge, Tom (29 June 2001). "ANC elections: No race in 2002". The Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Touchy Thabo won't hug Winnie". The Mail & Guardian. 18 June 2001. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  9. ^ a b Sole, Sam (13 January 2001). "Winnie's letter 'exposes tensions in ANC'". IOL. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Mbeki accuses 'ultra-leftists' of abusing ANC membership". The Irish Times. 21 December 2002. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  11. ^ a b Booysen, Susan (2011). The African National Congress and the Regeneration of Political Power. Wits University Press. ISBN 978-1-77614-166-1.
  12. ^ "All is not well at the ANC". the Guardian. 16 December 2002. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  13. ^ "51st National Conference: Resolutions". ANC. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  14. ^ Naki, Eric (25 July 2007). "The SACP's socialist agenda keeps clashing with the ANC's national democratic stance". Sowetan. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  15. ^ a b Battersby, John (20 December 2002). "ANC gets tough on Reds in its bed". IOL. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  16. ^ "51st National Conference: National Executive Committee as elected". ANC. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  17. ^ a b c d e "ANC to elect leaders". News24. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Manuel musters most NEC votes". IOL. 20 December 2002. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  19. ^ Motlanthe, Kgalema (17 December 2007). "Organisational Report to the 52nd National Conference". ANC. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
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