The former president was the main speaker on the last day of the SACP special national congress.
Former president Thabo Mbeki moved to the forefront as President Cyril Ramaphosa got boycotted by the South African Party (SACP), which supported him to become the ANC and the country’s president.
Also, the SACP 5th special national congress sitting in Boksburg for the last four days, accepted the decision to contest the 2026 local government elections fully and to field its own candidates in all areas.
The congress was attended by over 570 delegates from all the nine provinces, who represented 37 000 members countrywide.
Mbeki speaks at SACP congress
The congress accepted Mbeki’s invitation for the party to participate and make inputs in the upcoming national dialogue to be organised by national foundations of former stalwarts and National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) sometime next year.
The SACP agreed to participate and to further mobilise people to ensure they have voice in the process.
Mbeki proposed the dialogue early this year, but indicated the process was no longer in his hands as he engaged the national foundations comprising the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Foundation, Steve Biko Foundation, Demond and Lea Tutu Foundation among others.
In his address at the congress, Mbeki cautioned the SACP and congress delegates to participate in the national dialogue otherwise other forces would take the opportunity and make their inputs which may see the dialogue taking a different direction altogether.
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He said while the pre-1994 dialogue held at Kempton Park was a gathering of political formations the planned national dialogue was for the people and political formations who must speak directly about what kind of a country they wanted.
“There is great enthusiasm from the people about the dialogue,” he said.
According to Mbeki, the ANC had accepted an invitation to the dialogue, and the organisers planned to extend similar invitations to the SACP and other organisations.
Ramaphosa would make an announcement later about the dialogue.
Mbeki was the main speaker on the last day of the SACP special national congress – a rare move in the alliance politics where the former president is give a platform to address delegates.
Watch Mbeki’s speech below:
Mbeki isolated by ANC leaders?
The ANC under both former president Jacob Zuma and Ramaphosa isolated the former president by not allowing him a platform even with his immense intellectual wisdom and party memory, which he frequently shared on academic platforms.
During his time in exile as head of the ANC’s international affairs, Mbeki was Oliver Tambo’s right hand man, but often represented the party stalwart on international platforms – including the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
But since he was recalled in late 2008 by the Zuma-led ANC with the backing of the SACP and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) leaders, Mbeki briefly took a backseat and then returned when Ramaphosa was elected.
READ MORE: SACP’s ‘hypocrisy’ slammed for backing Zuma and losing its socialist roots
Ramaphosa, however, seemingly gave him a cold shoulder, perhaps fearing Mbeki’s overwhelming influence and being overshadowed.
The SACP, under general secretary Solly Mapaila, had brought Mbeki to the forefront.
He attended all, but one of the SACP congress sessions this week.
Earlier in a separate session with senior journalists and political editors on Monday night, Mapaila spoke fondly of Mbeki and his role in building the movement.
He said under him the alliance was in tact and there was regular interaction among the partners.
Mapaila said Mbeki’s criticisms of the ANC and the alliance as a whole built the movement and he respected his contribution.
Ramaphosa snubbed from SACP congress?
The SACP congresses were usually addressed by the ANC president – from the tenures of Nelson Mandela, Mbeki, Zuma and a few times Ramaphosa.
But it’s the first time that Ramaphosa did not address the congress and this was interpreted to say he was being snubbed by the party.
They was said to be in protest the ANC’s choice of aligning with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the government of national unity (GNU) instead of engaging left parties to form a black-led government.
The party earlier said the ANC leadership chose the DA despite its advice that it should rather go for the EFF and other left leaning black parties, but not Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
Ramaphosa was replaced by his deputy, Paul Mashatile, who addressed the gathering on Friday.
READ MORE: Mashatile says ANC must agree to SACP reconfiguration demands
Mashatile confirmed that he had been invited and expressed his willingness to attend when the SACP extended the invitation.
The deputy president did not clarify whether he was representing Ramaphosa during the address, nor did he deliver the president’s apology for his absence.
Although the SACP claimed to have invited Ramaphosa, a party source said the president was deliberately sidelined.
Mbeki, who in his early days was a member of the SACP, seemed to be the new darling of the party, he once criticised as being “ultra-left”.
Blade Nzimande
The party was annoyed when Mbeki kept on overlooking then SACP general secretary and now national chairperson, Blade Nzimande for a cabinet appointment.
But the party seemed to have kissed and made up.
He was finally appointed by Zuma as Minister of Higher Education and who then fired him during their fallout over Nzimande’s frequent criticism of the state-capture that Zuma presided over.
But the Cabinet minister seemed to have no issue anymore against the former president who he praised for his significant role at the Kempton multiparty talks and his stamina in chairing the path-to-power discussion.
Nzimande said Mbeki successfully facilitated dialogue on the Constitutions clauses on the right to strike, the land issue and education that lasted until the early hours of the morning.
The SACP special congress closed at 2.30pm with a closing address by Mapaila who vowed that the party would play a central role in determining the people’ destiny in the country including participating in the national dialogue suggested by Mbeki.
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