S.AFRICA'S ANC ON BRINK OF SPLIT!

By Martin Plaut - BBC News, Cape Town.

This weekend marks a decisive moment in history of post-apartheid South Africa, with the governing African National Congress (ANC) on the verge of a split.
Dissidents, led by the former premier of the region around Johannesburg, Mbhazima Shilowa, and former Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, have broken with the ANC and called a convention of all like-minded South Africans in Sandton in Johannesburg.
They have won the support of a number of leading ANC members, including former Deputy Defence Minister Mululeki George.
In the 18 years since Nelson Mandela was released from jail, the ANC has gone from being one of the most successful liberation movements, with a leader revered around the world, to a deeply divided organisation, led by Jacob Zuma, who is facing charges of corruption and racketeering.

Turning their backs on the ANC

Three broad reasons are cited for the recent rift:
Personality differences
A left-right split over economic policies
Tribal divisions.

A key development came during last year's ANC conference in Polokwane, when then President Thabo Mbeki lost his fight with Mr Zuma to remain party president.
Mr Zuma's supporters went on to force Mbeki loyalists out of key positions of power, and Mr Mbeki was forced to step down as president in September.
Furious at losing influence, Mr Mbeki's allies have turned on their former comrades.
'Whisky-drinking egotist'
Among their accusations was that the pro-Zuma faction had allowed the ANC's allies in the South African Communist party (SACP) and the unions too much power.
Mr Lekota wrote that it was unprecedented for the SACP to hold the most senior offices within the ANC.
"The ANC is NOT the SACP," Mr Lekota wrote. "And the SACP is NOT the ANC."

The dissidents maintained that they are true to the ideals of the ANC, which had been taken over by the left.
In reply, Mr Zuma's supporters accuse the dissidents of being bad losers and political opportunists, who have left the ANC because they have been denied access to government resources or patronage.
Mr Zuma said he was not surprised by the resignation of his former comrades, saying it had been in the air for quite a while.
"It is just disappointing that people who have been in the leadership, who have been leading people within the ANC, are not able to show leadership when they come across difficulties," he said.
Others went further, accusing the defectors of preparing to ditch the ANC because it is questioning the conservative economic policies adopted under Mr Mbeki.
"Their agenda is to sideline the working class," said Blade Nzimande, secretary-general of the SACP.
The trade union movement, Cosatu, called Mr Shilowa a "whisky-drinking egotist", and a black sheep who had betrayed the movement.
"He changed from being a darling of workers to a member of expensive, elitist, whisky-drinking and cigar-smoking clubs," said Cosatu.

From this perspective the division in the ANC is a left-right split, with Zuma supporters on the left and Lekota supporters on the right.
In reality, the situation is more complex, with some alleging that tribal differences are at least in part responsible for the divisions.
Xhosas, used to holding influence under Mr Mbeki, are said to be angry at being sidelined under Mr Zuma, who is a Zulu.

These are inflammatory statements, more often spoken behind closed doors than openly aired.
But Zwelethu Jolobe, who teaches politics at the University of Cape Town, believes this has been a significant element in the split.
"People have organised and used ethnic arguments or tribal arguments to garner support in the different regions of the country for these two factions," he says.
In the run-up to the launch of the new party a series of events are being held.
Rallies have taken place around the country, at which supporters of the new party have torn up or burnt their ANC membership cards.
Mr Lekota has spoken at these meetings, where his supporters have worn yellow and white T-shirts carrying his image and the words "South African National Congress" - the possible name for the new party.
But the rallies have been met with demonstrations by ANC supporters, some of whom chanted "Kill Shilowa, kill Lekota".
Some meetings have been attacked, and only police intervention has prevented Lekota supporters from being injured.

The organisers of the new party complain that venues they wanted to book have been denied them.
The ANC has condemned the violence and called for calm.
But the party has also accused the dissidents of intolerance for burning ANC emblems.

"The ANC has noted with utter disgust the rising levels of political intolerance in the country by supporters of the group," it said.
The scene is now set for the formation of the new party.
First there will be the conference this weekend to which all South African parties, including the ANC, have been invited.
The main opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance, the Independent Democrats and the United Democratic Movement are considering whether to go, but the ANC has declined.
One suggestion is that these disparate parties could unite around defending the South African constitution, which they say is threatened by the Zuma-led ANC.
Then, in December, the new party is expected to come into being.
What no-one can yet predict is how much support the new party will win, or how fundamentally it might transform the country's politics.
But after 14 years of ANC government there is at now a real wind of change in the air.
BBC NEWS REPORT