| dc.description.abstract | In the first part of this article a factual historical analysis is given of the redeployment of the Free State
Premier, Patrick Lekota, as a result of the unresolvable faction fights within the ANC, the continuing
protest against his transfer and the ongoing “obscurity concerning the objectives of the national
leadership” in solving the political debacle. In the second part the background of his successor,
Matsepe-Casaburri, is analysed, as well as the undemocratic way in which she was forced into
the politics of the Free State, the litigation in respect of Lekota’s removal, the commencement of the
Casaburri era and how the serious political fiasco contributed to the consideration of the desirability
of the fact that the premiership and leadership of the party should be seated in the same person. The
undemocratic conduct of the national leaders of the ANC was a foreshadowing of the increasing trend
to subordinate the Constitution and the existing provisions concerning the way in which premiers in
the provinces is appointed to what the leaders of the ANC have previously aimed at and decided upon.
This article is a critical, historical reconstruction of the role of the national leadership of the ANC
and the reaction of the Free State community. The white-centric nature of the reporting, especially of
the only newspaper in the Free State which followed the political drama closely and documented it,
is supplemented as far as possible by perspectives from other, more liberal, ANC media outside the
province who are well-disposed towards the party. If communication is about, among other things,
shared meaning by individuals, groups or organisations by openly sharing facts and norms by means of
the written and the spoken word, this analysis provides a view on how shared meaning was not reached
and optimum communication was by far not pursued or achieved. | en_US |
