A LEGACY OF LIBERATION - Towards a peoples …

1 A LEGACY of LIBERATION Thabo mbeki and the Future of the South African Dream Mark Gevisser A LEGACY OF i2/11/2009 5:39:14 PM2/11/2009 5:39:14 PMThis page intentionally left blank A LEGACY OF LIBERATIONTHABO mbeki AND THE FUTURE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN DREAMMark iii2/11/2009 5:39:14 PM2/11/2009 5:39:14 PMa LEGACY of liberationCopyright Mark Gevisser, rights reserved. First published in 2009 byPALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC,175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other : 978 0 230 61100 9 ISBN-10: 0 230 61100 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gevisser, Mark.

2 A LEGACY of LIBERATION : Thabo mbeki and the future of the South African dream / by Mark Gevisser. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978 0 230 61100 9 1. mbeki , Thabo. 2. mbeki , Thabo Infl uence. 3. mbeki , Thabo Family. 4. Presidents South Africa Biography. 5. South Africa Politics and government 1994 6. Political leadership South Africa Case studies. 7. Blacks South Africa Social conditions. 8. South Africa Race relations. I. Title. 6092 dc22[B]2008050763A catalogue record of the book is available from the British by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, edition: April 200910 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of iv2/11/2009 5:39:14 PM2/11/2009 5:39:14 PMTo David and Hedda GevisserAnd to Dhianaraj v2/11/2009 5:39:14 PM2/11/2009 5:39:14 PMThis page intentionally left blank CONTENTSA uthor s Note on the Text ixAcknowledgments xiIntroduction Thabo mbeki and the South African Dream Deferred 1 1 The Mbekis: The Jews of Kaffi rland 12 2 The Moeranes: Chekhov in the Transkei 19 3 The New Africans 25 4 Mbewuleni: A Place of Seed 33 5 Family 40 6 Queenstown: The African Springtime Orchestra 47 7 Lovedale: Africa s Best and Brightest 50 8 Fatherhood 58 9 Johannesburg: Fringe Country 6610 Becoming a Communist.

3 An Honour Bestowed upon Me 7411 Into Exile 7812 Sussex Man 8513 Favorite Son 9614 Swinging London: Old Left, New Left 10615 Moscow Man 11616 Not Quite Home : Lusaka and Marriage 12417 Swaziland: Front Line 13318 Govan and Epainette 14119 The Disappearance of Jama mbeki 15020 Nigeria: The Real Africa 15721 The National Interferer vii2/11/2009 5:39:14 PM2/11/2009 5:39:14 PMviii Contents22 Party Man 17423 The Diplomat 18124 The Seducer 18925 Parallel Paths to Power 19926 Reunions 20827 Coming Home 21428 Sidelining 22529 Into Power 23430 Transition: The Battle Over the Economy 24631 The Arms Deal: South Africa s Poisoned Well 25632 Mandela and mbeki : One Good Native 26133 mbeki and AIDS: Yes, We Are Diseased! 27634 mbeki and Zimbabwe: Red-Telephone Diplomacy 29735 Home 305 Epilogue Thabo mbeki , Jacob Zuma, and the Futureof the South African Dream 320 Notes 346 Bibliographical Notes 366 Index 369 Photographs appear between pages 173 viii2/11/2009 5:39:14 PM2/11/2009 5:39:14 PMAUTHOR S NOTE ON THE TEXTON PLACE NAMESMany place names in the Eastern Cape have changed since democracy.

4 This is to bring them in line with the way they are actually pronounced in isiXhosa rather than the way they were transliterated by the colonists. So Idutywa is now Dutywa, Umtata is now Mthatha, and so on. Because most of my informants refer to these places by their former names, I have used only these former names in the text, to avoid CURRENCYS outh Africa used the British pound sterling ( ) until it became a republic in 1961, when it changed to the rand (R). This book works accordingly. When the original amounts in the text are in rands, they are refl ected in rands and not converted. The rand and the dollar were roughly equal in the mid-1980s. In the 1990s, there were between 3 and 5 rands to the dollar; this dropped to 7 by the early 2000s, and was at around 10 at the time of SOURCESOver two hundred people were interviewed for this book.

5 Most were will-ing to speak on the record, but some preferred to remain anonymous. While unattributed sources are common in journalism, they are less so in serious biography; they are, however, unavoidable in a project of this par-ticular nature, published at this particular time. All quotes from these inter-views have been carefully cross-checked and are not cited in the Notes. All other direct quotes, from written sources, are cited in the Notes. In the Bibliographical Notes I provide contextual sources and suggest further reading. With the exception of off-the-record interviews, all materials col-lected in my research for this book are lodged at the South African History Archives at Wits University: ix2/11/2009 5:39:15 PM2/11/2009 5:39:15 PMThis page intentionally left blank ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI am deeply grateful to all of the following:For archival assistance: Zweliyanyikima Vena and Sandy Rowoldt at the Cory Library at Rhodes University; Stephen Gill at the Morija Mission Archives in Lesotho; Richard Whiteing, Simpiwe Yako, Zolile Mvunelo, and all the staff at the Mayibuye Archives; Sadie Forman and the staff at the ANC Archives at the University of Fort Hare; Stan Ndlovu from the ANC Film and Video Archives; Michelle Leon and the staff at the AVUSA Library.

6 And the staff at Wits Historical Papers, the South African Communist Party Library, and the Missing Persons Task Team of the National Prosecuting access to private collections, and permission to cite from or repro-duce material: Thabo and Zanele mbeki , Epainette mbeki , Moeletsi mbeki , the late Linda Jiba, the late Govan mbeki , the late Norah Moerane, Sophie Moerane, Olive Mpahlwa, Essop and Meg Pahad, Derek Gunby, Mel and Rhiannon Gooding, Tibor Barna, Howard Barrell, Colin Coleman, Gail Gerhart, Barbara Harmel, Shireen Hassim, Philippa Ingram, Tom Karis, Tom Lodge, Tiksie Mabizela, Hugh Macmillan, Mphu Matete, Gabriel Mokgoko, Ann Nicholson, Wiseman Nkuhlu, Tiny Nokwe, Seth Phalatse, Hennie Serfontein, Tor Sellstr m, Bridget Thompson, and Tony Trew. The mbeki family also gave me permission to access the Department of Justice fi les on Govan and Thabo mbeki in assisting me in my travels, sharing ideas and research with me, or reading drafts of my work.

7 Charlotte Bauer, Jonathan Berger, Fran Buntman, Luli Callinicos, Jeremy Cronin, Maggie Davey, Jessica Dubow, Jihan El-Tahri, Andrew Feinstein, Stephen Gelb, Heather Godwin, Derek Gunby, Robert Harvey, Hillary and Tony Hamburger, Barbara Harmel, Gillian Hart, Rachel Holmes, Heather Hughes, Jon Hyslop, Wellington Jansen, Tom Karis, J rgen K gl, Reddy Mampane, Achille Mbembe, Kwena Steve Mokwena, Joel Netshitenzhe, Sarah Nuttall, Dele Olojede, Kole Omotoso, Deborah Posel, Helen Schneider, Mark Schoofs, Elinor Sisulu, Carol Steinberg, Raymond Suttner, Ivan Vladislavic, Iden Wetherell, and Claire Wright. I would like to thank, in particular: Colin Bundy, for his intellectual generosity and per-mission to cite from his unpublished work; Gail Gerhart, Tor Sellstr m, and Vladimir Shubin for their collegial generosity; Esther Kaplan, who gave invaluable advice for this edition; Shaun de Waal, who edited the fi rst edition of this book; and Jonny Steinberg, the other half of the two-person writer s workshop that has sustained me creatively for nearly a decade xi2/11/2009 5:39:15 PM2/11/2009 5:39:15 PMFor research: Joanne Bloch, France Bourgouin, Collette Fearon, Tumi Makgetla, Boitshoko Mohlabane, Ruth Muller, Felicity Nyikadzino, George Ogola, Sophie Maggs, Rob Skinner, Tymon Smith, Paul Stinson, and par-ticularly Paul Holden.

8 For assistance from the South African Presidency and the ANC: Joel Netshitenzhe, Essop Pahad, Kgalema Motlanthe, Smuts Ngonyama, Ronnie Mamoepa, Bheki Khumalo, Murphy Morobe, David Hlabane, Louis du Plooy, Mandisa Mayinje, and the staff at Mahlamba agreeing to talk to me: all those I interviewed, and most of all the Mbekis themselves. In particular: Zanele mbeki , for being so willing a con-duit; Moeletsi mbeki , whose combination of charm, intellect and spirit I can only aspire to; and Epainette mbeki , who has become a teacher, a mother, and a friend. Three family members have passed away who also helped me greatly: Govan mbeki , Linda Jiba, and Norah Moerane. I am also deeply grateful to Olive Mpahlwa and Mphu Matete, who have trusted me with their unimaginable pain.

9 Of course, my ultimate gratitude goes to Thabo mbeki himself, who agreed to spend hours with me and to encourage his comrades, friends, and family to talk to me. There are many others who wish to remain anonymous. I thank you all for your time and insight. The ideas of this book, however, are my own, and no one else should be held to account for them or my helping to bring this book into the world: the Sunday Times (Johannesburg), which commissioned the work that began this project; the Wits Institute of Social and Economic Research (WISER) in Johannesburg, which awarded me a writing fellowship in 2001; the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria, which sponsored my European travel; Jonathan Ball, whose faith in me sustained my work for eight years, and all at Jonathan Ball Publishers and at Palgrave Macmillan.

10 I am particularly grateful to my editor, Luba Ostashevsky, whose acuity and equanimity played the key role in getting this book an international readership, and to my wonderfully creative and committed agents, Isobel Dixon and David their friendship, love, and support over the course of a decade: my family and friends, and in particular Dhianaraj Chetty, who has made a home for and with me, and who continues to nurture and sustain me in every GevisserJanuary 2009xii xii2/11/2009 5:39:15 PM2/11/2009 5:39:15 PMA LEGACY OF xiii2/11/2009 5:39:15 PM2/11/2009 5:39:15 PMThis page intentionally left blank INTRODUCTIONTHABO mbeki AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN DREAM DEFERREDOn the night of Sunday, September 21, 2008 a somber Thabo mbeki , surrender etched into his impassive face, told the world that he was obliged to step down as president of South Africa because he had been fired by his own political party, the African National Congress (ANC).