THERE is hope. President Thabo Mbeki, his legacy partially intact, will formally step down on Thursday. He will do so in as positive a frame of mind as is possible under the circumstances.
ANC President Jacob Zuma has all-but confirmed that Kgalema Motlanthe will serve as president until next year’s election.
And the party has moved to silence its motor-mouthed youth president, Julius Malema — a man who has gone a long way to diminish public faith in the Zuma camp’s ability to govern.
All of this is good news.
Motlanthe is the right choice for the ANC and for South Africa.
He has sufficient stature to take command and to see off those who will try to turn his term of office into an extension of the bitter infighting that has wracked the ANC.
He has been prepared to do unpopular things, such as speak out for the independence of state institutions and against the rantings of Malema.
The danger that the months between now and the 2009 election will place South Africa in a dangerous limbo is receding as the ANC finally shows signs that it is ready to govern once more.
All of us — supporters of the ANC and of opposition parties — must give Motlanthe a chance to re-introduce stability into our political system.
We have all been scarred by what Judge Chris Nicholson described as the “titanic” battle for power in the ANC.
We must all start to heal.
Next year, this country will hold a general election to choose a new government.
We must use this election to rebuild our nation as a country of vibrant political debate, but one in which we are all South Africans first.
By then we should have legal certainty on the Zuma matter. We should stand united as a country that places democracy and freedom before the politics of destruction.

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