Cosatu's recent endorsement of current deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa as the next ANC president is a mistake and former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe is the man for the job.
Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader Julius Malema was adamant during an interview with HuffPost SA on Friday that the ANC would be unstoppable with Motlanthe at the helm.
"When the ANC rejected Kgalema in 2012, that's when everything else went wrong," said Malema, referring to the ANC elective conference in Mangaung at the time, when he was still part of the ruling party as the leader of the ANC Youth League and a vocal proponent of the change faction that wanted Motlanthe to take over from incumbent President Jacob Zuma. The faction was roundly defeated leading to five more years of Zuma at the helm of the party and technically seven as president of the republic.
"The ANC would have come back much more stronger," said Malema, referring to that moment. "Kgalema is a man of integrity. Kgalema is knowledgeable. Kgalema listens."
Watch the rest of his comments in the video here.
The leader's ardent support for the former deputy is being read by analysts as evidence that he would join forces with the ANC if the terms were right.
"It illustrates the fact that the EFF versus the ANC is a family fight," said political analyst Professor Steven Friedman. "That the EFF is available to rejoin the family as soon as there are more favourable terms than what is available at the moment. That means no [current president Jacob] Zuma and may mean no Ramaphosa as well."
Adamant about never returning to the ANC
Political analysis Dr. Somadoda Fikeni agreed. "There is no doubt that at the back of the EFF's mind, at least for some of its leadership which came from the ANC, they would find reasons to go back to the ANC but they would want to bargain from a stronger position."
Malema has been adamant previously that he would never return to the ANC.
The EFF, though rapidly growing, achieved less than 10 percent of the vote in the last election, while the ANC still hangs on to a majority.
The ANC had a rude awakening after the results of the 2016 local government elections, which saw their support plummet and their mayors ousted in key metros. The EFF played kingmaker in the City of Joburg and Tshwane and chose to help install the opposition DA in power, opting to only work with the ANC if Zuma was removed, among a list of very difficult demands. This could be a dress rehearsal for the national elections in 2019 where the ANC's support is predicted to dwindle further and the EFF's to grow.
A man that listens to the opposition and says what you're saying is right is the most dangerous man to the opposition because he will render you useless, you will close shop.Julius Malema
Malema said an ANC with Motlanthe at the helm would render opposition parties, like his own, useless.
"He listens to the opposition. A man that listens to the opposition and says what you're saying is right, is the most dangerous man to the opposition because he will render you useless, you will close shop."
Fikeni said there were two scenarios that could see the EFF become amenable to joining forces with the ANC.
"Either the ANC has a reduced majority or it is even reduced below 50% and it needs the EFF in order to govern [in 2019]. Or, after the ANC leadership election [earlier] there are talks of cooperation which may lead ultimately to a merger. Those are two possibilities that I think the EFF are considering," he said.
Motlanthe would deserve respect
Malema told HuffPost SA he would be worried about the threat an ANC under Motlanthe could pose to the EFF and would not heckle him as the party has done with Zuma in Parliament, where it has repeatedly embarrassed the president over his numerous scandals.
"Absolutely, I will. I will find it very difficult to oppose Kgalema. What will I say to him? Can I stand up and disrupt Kgalema when he speaks and says order? I can't. For what? Because Kgalema has not done anything wrong in his entire life... The EFF will have to find something cogent, something convincing to say to our people: This man is not the man for South Africa."
Malema also slammed Ramaphosa for his role in the Marikana massacre.
Fikeni said this was to be expected, for three reasons.
"[Ramaphosa] was the chair of the ANC disciplinary appeals committee which finally led to their expulsion," he said. "I don't think they've forgiven that."
Then there was the EFF's campaigning around Marikana and thirdly their tacit support for former president Thabo Mbeki.
"Ramaphosa was often seen as an opponent of Mbeki, or put forward by opponents of Mbeki. That is not lost on their minds as they reflect on a Ramaphosa presidency."
A reluctant would-be successor, Motlanthe has remained largely on the political sidelines after his defeat at Mangaung, after which he was put in charge of political education in the ANC. But he has lately been increasingly vocal of the ANC under Zuma.
Young people will gravitate into the EFF because they value the fact that there they can say what they want to say.Kgalema Motlanthe
He made waves at the end of the last year when, in a candid interview with Business Day, he said the tripartite alliance between the SACP, Cosatu and the ANC was effectively dead. He also defended Malema, saying his expulsion from the party was unwise, and praised the EFF.
"Given the fact that the ANCYL doesn't enjoy autonomy and freedom of expression, young people will gravitate into the EFF because they value the fact that there they can say what they want to say," Motlanthe said at the time. "They can't say that inside the ANC: it's ill-discipline."
In an interview with City Press ahead of the crucial local government election this year, Motlanthe again slammed his party, saying they had lost the plot and that he no longer felt comfortable in the leadership of the party when he realised they were not adhering to their own constitution.
As Zuma nears the end of his last term as ANC president, the battle for his successor has largely been between AU Commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Ramaphosa. Those strongly aligned to Zuma, including the so-called premier league, support Dlamini-Zuma, who is also his ex-wife, for the job while Cosatu and others have pledged support for Ramaphosa.