This feature on Thabo Mbeki's relationship with the media caught my eye this morning. Essentially the Mail & Guardian asked two prominent South African writers, William Gumede and Ronald Suresh Roberts, to assess that issue, and their independent conclusions are, I think, telling. Gumede believes that Mbeki brings most of his difficulties on himself. Roberts aims most of his criticisms at the media. Neither is exactly wrong. But the approach each takes perhaps inadvertently captures the divide in South African politics and within the African National Congress today.
