HEADLINE:   Enigma  

PUBLICATION: Mercury

PAGE NUMBER: 11

AUTHOR:     Zubeida Jaffer

DATE:       2000-06-08 08:08:07

Enigma of a strong silent president

Parliamentary editor Zubeida Jaffer looks at how President Mbeki comes across to political friends and foes

IT IS past midnight. He has slipped on pyjamas, a paisley gown and sheepskin slippers. He ploughs through piles of documents in preparation for the next day. He makes a call which leads to a flurry of other phone calls. 

"The chief needs that document now," is the message to bleary-eyed staffers. One of them eventually makes his way to President Mbeki's home. It is 2am, and most of Pretoria is asleep. The sharp aroma of pipe tobacco wafts through the house. Pursed between Mr Mbeki's lips is the famous pipe so seldom seen in public. 

"He drives us mad," said one of his staffers with a tinge of amusement. "We just don't rest." 

A week from now, he would have served a year in office. Long forgotten is the fanfare of June 16, 1999, when he stepped on to the podium at the Union Buildings to be installed as South Africa's second democratically-elected president. 

That he is a tough task-master and a workaholic are generally acknowledged. There are, however, divergent views on the personal style he brings to the presidency - a style which has been variously described as cold, philosophical, brilliant, managerial, collective, hands-on and distant. 

"Very cold" is how e African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe describes Mr Mbeki. "He does not stretch out a hand of friendship. In the past year, he has not once called me or asked me to meet him." 

Mr Meshoe has not forgotten Mr Mbeki's public attack on his party shortly after he became president. 

His sentiments are echoed by most opposition leaders. Democratic Party leader Tony Leon admits no personal rapport exists between him and Mr Mbeki and so does the UDM's Bantu Holomisa and the Freedom Front's Constand Viljoen. 

"I get the impression that he does not have time for us," said Gen Viljoen. "I have difficulty in seeing him or the deputy-president. There is no open door policy. He seems to have created a shield around him." 

The PAC's Dr Stanley Mogoba and the NNP's Marthinus Van Schalkwyk have had better luck. "He has called me twice and we have met twice since he became president," says Dr Mogoba. "Our relations are easy but politically distant," he said. "After all, we share the same constituency." 

Mr van Schalkwyk and Mr Mbeki have met once during his presidency and spoken once telephonically. "Both times, we disagreed," said Mr van Schalkwyk. The one discussion was about amnesty. "He was very well prepared but I found him very dogmatic, not easy to move at all." 

His cabinet colleagues tell a different story. Recently, when three artists presented their proposals for the new coat-of-arms to the cabinet, present were the deputy-ministers, whom Mr Mbeki regularly invites to closed cabinet meetings. 

"He is very inclusive and interactive," says deputy Defence Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge. "I feel I can speak my mind," she said. 

Mr Mbeki captured the sense of occasion by weaving the minutiae into the bigger picture, says deputy Justice Minister Cheryl Gillwald. "I was fascinated by how we all participated," she said.

Mr Mbeki is hands-on in so far as he takes a keen interest in every aspect of the work of the different ministries. 

"He takes the trouble to grasp the intricacies and the difficulties faced by different ministries," said Environment and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa. "But while he may act as CEO, he also allows ministers to run with the ball. He does not try and run my portfolio. I make policies together with cabinet." 

Unlike cabinet ministers, some ANC backbenchers do not find it that easy to relate to him. 

"There seems to be an intellectual arrogance," said the ANC's Priscilla Jana, who is a close friend of Mr Mbeki. "I sense that the MPs are in awe of him." 

Some say they found it easier to relate to him when he was deputy president.

"When he comes into caucus, there is a kind of distance. People don't easily go up to him," said another backbencher. She admits that she found it very easy to relate to him before he was president. "Many times I wanted to tell him things, slip him notes as I did in the past, but I stop myself . . . I don't know why. Perhaps it is partly the image that has been created that as president he has become a hard person - that he is intolerant of fools. Also people think about their positions." 

But those who are fortunate to meet him in working meetings have no doubt of his ability to be 10 steps ahead of everybody else. The problem appears partly to be in interactions in the public domain. Some say that it is because he is, in fact, quite shy. Others say that his style is entirely compatible with the intellectual arrogance of a sharp mind. 

ANC MP Yunus Carrim has been struck by Mr Mbeki's charm and wit. "We once met from nine at night until six in morning to discuss differences within the alliance partners over a particular bill. Mr Mbeki was alert throughout and when we stumbled off to bed in the morning, he was getting ready for his first appointment at seven." 

Mr Carrim says the public sees little of the charm and humour of the president he saw that night. 

Mr Mbeki endeared himself to most on May 10 when he answered questions in parliament. From Tony Leon to Constand Viljoen and ANC backbenchers, they were unanimous that the question time in parliament had shown Mr Mbeki at his best. 

Opposition parties have voiced concern over the limited presidential presence in parliament. ANC MPs are privately worried.

According to Hansard, Mr Mbeki has spoken on five occasions in the national assembly and once in the national council of provinces since becoming president.

 

In addition, he has only been present in the house on Budget Day and three other occasions. It would help greatly if he appeared in parliament more often, said Gen Viljoen. "It's the only time we have a chance to speak to him," he said. 

By choosing at first to address the public on the Zimbabwean issue outside of parliament, he may have created the impression that he is inclined to the American presidential style. Unfortunately, it is not for him to choose. The US president is directly elected by the voters. Mr Mbeki is not. 

Parliament confers on him his position in accordance with international parliamentary practice. He is in danger of faltering if he retreats into the isolated world of the philosopher, overlooking the representatives of the people. 

A member of the diplomatic corp observing the president from the gallery said of the May 10 question time: "He was well-prepared, scholarly. Parliament would be so much enriched by his presence - the whole country would be enriched to hear his side of the argument more often."