Criticism leveled at Mbeki is not uncommon

History is pregnant with many examples of leaders who come under severe criticsm in their final years in office

By Madibeng Kgwete: posted on 29 August 2007

The unfair generalisations contained in the letter by Andy Beytell, “On issues from A to Z, ‘racist’ Mbeki gets an F”, (The Star, 28 August 2007), explain a common phenomenon in countries where leaders are in their final years of office. This phenomenon is characterised mainly by severe criticism leveled at the leader and an impatient desire for change.

The recent outpouring of criticism leveled at President Thabo Mbeki from various stakeholders, including members of the Tripartite Alliance he leads, is not uncommon, particularly when one considers the fact that the president has less than two years before his term of office comes to an end.

History is pregnant with many examples of leaders who come under severe criticism in their final years in office. And the criticism usually ignores the fact that the leader is not running the country by himself, that he is serving in a collective and that he is carrying out a mandate normally sanctioned by the ruling party.

Take, for example, the case of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was pressurised out of office before the end of his term as Prime Minister in a rebellion championed by his Labour Party comrades. His sin? He, with the support of the same comrades in the British Parliament, took his county into an illegal war in Iraq .

Considering the politicking that goes with the run-up to the December conference of the African National Congress (ANC), where Mbeki’s successor may be elected, it is not surprising that our society’s desire for change often (and deliberately) ignores Mbeki’s strengths and achievements.
Our obsession with the succession battle going on in the ANC, coupled with our highly impatient wait for a new leadership at government level, renders many of us unfit to provide any fair assessment of Mbeki’s leadership.

His imperfections on the Aids pandemic not withstanding, Mbeki has led South Africa with unmatched skill, unique diplomacy, high intellect and dignity. Under Mbeki’s watch, our economy has grown (though not enough to satisfy everyone’s needs) and our country has broadened its influence internationally.

Many of Mbeki’s critics hate the fact that the president is more knowledgeable than they are. These armchair critics, many of whom are half-baked, hate it more when Mbeki hits back through his popular online letter in the ANC Today newsletter.

They want the President to sit back and take punches, but not only does he refuse to oblige, but he also exposes the hypocrisy of his critics and the racist pessimism they often seek to advance. Even his harshest critics will miss Mbeki when he joins the list of former African heads of states and government.

Beytell quotes Stephen Mulholland who is said to have written that Mbeki was "bitter, narrow-minded, vainglorious, officious, arrogant, pompous and racist". Yet the same can be said of Mulholland, one of the critics who cannot see any good in all of Mbeki’s work. What single positive thing has Mulholland said about Mbeki?

In evaluating Mbeki’s performance, critics must put the ANC succession battle aside and see the facts: like every human being in the world, the President has not perfected every aspect of his work, but he has led the country (and, to a degree, the African continent) with distinction.

• An edited copy of this article appeared in The Star newspaper on 13 August 2007 under the headline, “Criticism of a leader in final years in office is common”.