There are many curious and perhaps contradictory elements to David Mabuza’s time in office. 

His supporters could say he achieved the position of Deputy President because of his decision to support what he described as “unity” at Nasrec in 2017. And it was this decision, paraded as a principled one, that pushed him into the position of Deputy President in the first place.

His supporters could also say that it was (again) his principled decision that brought an end to his time in office. It was his decision to resign and thus clear the space for the President to appoint his successor.

And they could say that he did this because he was loyal to the ANC.

There is, of course, another way to look at it. In the days before Cyril Ramaphosa appointed his 2019 Cabinet, Mabuza had the power to force him to delay this announcement, because he wanted to go through the ANC’s Integrity Commission before being appointed.

The Mabuza Dilemma: A puzzle wrapped into … something, anything

And, when he left office, he did so also on his terms. So, rather than this being an act of principle, it was that he wanted to control how he left office.

Accordingly, his record will forever reflect that he resigned as Deputy President and was not fired.

But to examine his time in office is to find precious few public clues as to what he actually did while ostensibly SA’s No 2.

Technically, he was in charge of the Eskom “War Room”, the benefits of which appear to be non-existent.

Certainly, there is no public evidence that it led to any more power generation capacity. He was silent during the public debates about the transition from coal to renewable power, appeared absent during periods of load shedding and said nothing of substance on the issue at all.

He was also supposed to play a role in the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

Here again, apart from perhaps two public appearances on the issue (including an “inspection” of the Biovac facility), any action that he took was either largely invisible or was conducted in a parallel space-time continuum that is inaccessible to mere mortals.

For the last five years, Mabuza hardly ever appeared in public. He did not do one single sit-down interview during his time in office. In fact, as far as can be determined, he has not done a single sit-down interview with any journalist for at least 15 years, and certainly since he appeared to play a role in the arrest and brief jailing of journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika in 2010, he has not given any interviews.

Rather, he has done, by our count, perhaps three stand-ups, answering questions from a clutch of journalists, twice about vaccines, and once about the sanitation problems in Emfuleni.

For many people, perhaps the only public appearances by Mabuza have been his answers to parliamentary questions.

Here too, it appeared he was limiting his time as much as possible. He appeared to take every opportunity to do the appearance virtually, rather than in Parliament in person. While it was his right to do so, it may also have given the impression to some that he was avoiding in-person appearances.

If Mabuza, or his supporters, feel that he made a significant contribution, it was certainly their duty to ensure he was seen to do this.

When Ramaphosa described Mabuza’s service as “exceptional” this week, one does not know what he means.

Politics, so often, is about being seen to do something, which is sometimes the problem with democracy.

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Negotiations with Struggle veterans

However, for at least one constituency, there can be no denying that Mabuza has appeared to work incredibly hard.

He has appeared to spend much time in difficult negotiations with liberation Struggle veterans. While the identities of some of these people may be contested, he has appeared to put much effort into trying to resolve their issues.

No doubt they and their families will remember Mabuza fondly for this, although some may feel that he did not manage to make a lasting difference in their lives.

It is easy to blame Mabuza personally for this apparent lack of legacy. After all, he has agency, he had an important position for a long time and appeared to have the power to do things.

But in fact, his power to make any kind of change may have been very limited.

It is hard to look at any former deputy presidents and point to achievements in that office.

So often, the presidents at the time, seeing the person in that position as a rival, have given them duties designed to weaken them.

It was probably for this reason that Thabo Mbeki put Jacob Zuma in charge of the Moral Regeneration Movement and why Zuma put Ramaphosa in charge of the Eskom War Room and the e-tolls issue.

This is one of the consequences of the fact that the deputy presidency is very different to being a Cabinet minister. They have spelt-out responsibilities. But the Constitution says that the roles of the Deputy President are assigned to them by the President, who can deliberately limit their responsibilities.

This lack of action appears to have been seen by ANC delegates.

In 2017, Mabuza won more votes than any other candidate for a position on what was then the Top Six national officials.

In 2022, he received so few branch nominations that he declined to be entered into the race for any position.

Of course, there could be a possible, more charitable explanation for this apparent invisibility.

It is known that Mabuza has been unwell — he went to Russia several times for medical treatment. While one should give him some space to deal with this, he has also refused to give any details about his condition. Again, this is his right. 

Perhaps, if he had shared more information he may have found more sympathy. But he chose not to do so. Which only intensified the sense of mystery around him — it had already been created by his admission, several years ago, that he had been poisoned.

(The strategic threat that his illness posed cannot be overemphasised: South Africa’s No 2 leader, one heartbeat away from the presidency, was dependent on a foreign power for his life. For five years, that situation was not resolved. Just let it sink in. — Ed)

However, the real political lesson from Mabuza’s career so far, as has been examined previously, is how important a national constituency is in our politics.

His real weakness probably lay in the fact that once he left Mpumalanga the ANC in the province appeared to split into up to four different factions. As he had not been able to create a constituency in other provinces, this may have been fatal.

He is not alone in this dynamic. Something similar may well have happened to former ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule after he left the Free State.

Even Zweli Mkhize appeared to struggle to get support from provinces other than KwaZulu-Natal at last year’s ANC conference.

The nature of Mabuza’s deputy presidency may also have rested on another factor. So often, people in that position are almost forgotten by history, unless they go on to the top job.

And that may be Mabuza’s real problem, he has never really had a good shot at the top job.

It should also be remembered that it did not have to be this way.

In 2018, at one point, it looked as if he was making progress in rehabilitating his reputation.

At the time, as Ramaphosa was still cementing his grip on office, the burning issue was land, and expropriation without compensation. Mabuza gave what can only be described as a magnificent speech at a farmer’s event.

It may be worth repeating some of what he said, just to demonstrate the quality of the speech-writing: 

“It is understandable that human beings are prone, in times of national strife, in times of bitter socioeconomic hardship, in times of hard debates about land reform, to retreat easily into narrow nationalist, racial and ethnic enclaves … However, I stand in front of you on this day to state with conviction that this path we have chosen is the correct one.”

Also, he went on a political offensive, rebuking Magashule in Parliament, for the amount of money spent on his “farewell party” in the Free State.

It is not clear what changed between then and now.

Still, his time in office is not the totality of his political legacy.

While residents of Mpumalanga will have their own memories of his time as premier, he may be remembered on the national stage for one other major accomplishment.

Which is that when he appeared to hold the balance of power in the battle between Ramaphosa and Zuma, in December 2017, he backed Ramaphosa.

By doing this, he broke Zuma’s grip on power.

If he had chosen another course, our history could have been very different. DM