CAF President Patrice Motsepe during the FIFA World Cup match between Croatia and Morocco at Khalifa International Stadium on 17 December 2022 in Doha, Qatar. Picture: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images Were it not for the danger that this might be misinterpreted by those viewing the world through race-tinted glasses, we might say that what the ANC needs is a white knight to come galloping in to save it. The image of one person, through the force of their charisma and commitment, being able to drag the party – and along with it, the country – back onto the straight and narrow has been a political motif for a while now.
Perhaps it’s because we once had such a man, who could transcend ideology, personal aggrandisement and race, and put the country first. He was called Nelson Mandela. After the country went to the proverbial hot place in a handbasket during the looting years of Jacob Zuma and Co, we still believed someone would come riding to our rescue.
So, we squinted very hard to see the “new dawn” promised by President Cyril Ramaphosa until disappointment inevitably arrived, like a deflating balloon. The current, somewhat mythical figures who some in the ANC are hoping might perform some Houdini escapology from the coffin in which the party is imprisoned, are former president Thabo Mbeki and billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe. The grumpy intellectual, Mbeki, is not well liked by many in the organisation and he has shown little inclination to return to the political fray.
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Motsepe, though, is the sort of successful role model who is being courted by some in the ANC. It appears, at this stage anyway, that the self-made businessman is not stupid: he has other fish to fry, being a contender for a top global football job. Are those punting him hoping he will be able to bolster party election war chests?
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