Manuel's 'fatal error'

Johannesburg - Trevor Manuel, the minister responsible for planning, made it difficult for other ANC protagonists to protect him.

Manuel kept the Green Paper on the operations of the planning commission close to his chest until about a week before its announcement last month.

Current protocol between the government and the ANC is, however, that such important policy documents should be distributed as confidential discussion documents to the members of the ANC's National Executive Committee concerned beforehand, and be discussed with the members once they have had a chance to peruse them.

"We searched everywhere to get a copy, but were unable to do so. We even enquired of the Presidency. When we realised that not even key personnel in the Presidency had seen a copy, it became clear that Manuel was keeping it secret," a senior Luthuli House source told Sake24.

Manuel's strategy to keep the document to himself until shortly before announcing it was normal practice during the Mbeki era, but it constituted one of the principal reasons for the mounting frustration on the part of the ANC's two alliance partners, which in time had led to the animosity towards Mbeki.

If Manuel had acted differently this time, there would have been an opportunity to garner early support for his Green Paper and to clear up the misunderstandings that led to Cosatu's agitation.

"He did himself no favours keeping it quiet. He would probably have received support at the highest level had he acted differently," the source commented.

Mistakes such as these are suicidal against an opponent such as Ebrahim Patel, the Minister of Economic Development, who is well versed in the art of persuasion and enlisting support for a viewpoint, as well as in gaining mandates to end disputes.

For Patel, proper procedures are almost more important than content. The fact that he was not involved in the process of getting the Green Paper off the ground spurred him to immediate action.

He called on Cosatu's support. This led to a heated debate at the Cosatu Congress within a week of the Green Paper's announcement.

At the Congress it was quite obvious that Gwede Mantashe, the ANC secretary-general and its chief representative there, was batting for Manuel. But in vain, because Cosatu adopted a resolution demanding that Patel's ministry be designated the sole architect of economic policy.

This led to President Jacob Zuma reshuffling the Cabinet committees last week, and excluding Manuel from the economic committee.

Zuma also confirmed that macro- and microeconomic policy would in future be Patel's domain.

- Sake24.com

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