SPEAKING on the legacy of Oliver Tambo at the University of Fort Hare, former president Thabo Mbeki called for an open and constructive debate.

One of Mbeki's concerns was how to "respond to what is obviously a dangerous and unacceptable situation of directionless and unguided national drift" of the country.

Continuous attack on Mbeki following his remarks were inevitable.

But to successfully open up a constructive debate the ANC leadership and South Africans in general need to respond with civility and separate Mbeki from the problem.

In response to Mbeki's comments it came as no surprise that some leaders with differing interests within the ANC and its alliance partners retorted illogically.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe disparaged Mbeki, arguing that the country had progressed since Jacob Zuma took over. As an illustration of the country's progress under Zuma, Mantashe cited successes in the fight against HIV-Aids.

In the same vein Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini, refuted Mbeki's remarks arguing that "... we will not accept it when there is an insinuation or a direct pronouncement that our country is directionless or leaderless".

Dlamini wants to challenge the former state president about "what is he doing right now to provide the leadership he says this country does not have".

With the risk of appearing to defend Mbeki, one cannot help but highlight that Mantashe forgot to acknowledge that the successes in combating HIV-Aids infections could be traced to Mbeki's regime policy on the pandemic.

Nonetheless, one wants to believe that, given the limited coverage of Mbeki's lecture on Tambo by the state-owned media, both Mantashe and Dlamini responded to the former president's comments without going through the whole speech.

Mbeki explicitly states that "...we must make a determined effort to defeat the negative national tendencies described in the National Development Plan as opposed to proclaiming success and closing our minds to failure, and affirming some realities and denying others."

Despite the hostilities that characterised Mbeki's removal from office by his comrades, the former president also made a gesture availing himself and calling them for open and constructive criticism.

In that light Dlamini and the ANC leadership should consider challenging Mbeki from a civil perspective, rather than directing arguments against him.

Responding to the The Economist article, which also shares some of Mbeki's observations about the state of the nation, the presidency claims that "South Africa is moving forward towards prosperity under the very able leadership of President Zuma and his cabinet" and that "it is grossly incorrect to suggest that South Africa is on a downhill slide".

While, according to the Presidency, "South Africa is getting many things right", by deduction, it acknowledges that some things are going wrong in the country.

In this regard Mbeki warned that "closing our minds to failure signifies a perverse and determined refusal to reverse or correct such failure!"

Some of the observations and fears expressed by the former president as an "unacceptable situation of directionless and unguided national drift" continue to manifest themselves in the recent developments towards the ANC Mangaung conference.

The same week Mbeki delivered the Tambo lecture, the uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKVA) issued a warning that "we will support Kgalema Motlanthe for deputy president, but if he contests the (presidency), the conference resolved to support comrade Cyril Ramaphosa (for deputy president)".

Notwithstanding the fact that the MKVA has a right to express its views on the preferred candidate, discouraging a potential contestant in such a manner is problematic. More worrying is the use of military language: "If you go to war, you can't just go without a Plan B, it is just a contingency plan."

Is South Africa witnessing remilitarisation of the ANC or is the ANC regressing from political party status to liberation movement mode?

If the allegations contained in the e-mails implicating the MKVA second choice for deputy presidency, Cyril Ramaphosa, are true, what message is the ANC sending to South Africans?

Ramaphosa is negatively implicated in the Marikana massacre. Nevertheless, whatever the case might be, the ANC leadership and the general South African populace should treat Mbeki's call for an open and constructive debate with civility.

A civil constructive debate warrants that the ANC leadership and the general South African populace need to acknowledge the problems currently facing the republic and focus on solutions which are most likely to enforce unity and social cohesion within the ruling party and the country at large.

If left unattended, the status quo of factionalism would continue to feed into the "us" versus "them" animosity as key decisions are also made on personal basis.

It is this light that Mbeki also believes that an intellectual contest would have to be based on the firm understanding that those who control the levers of state power would not misuse such control to stifle or suppress any opinion

Is the ANC ready to heed Mbeki's call for an open and constructive debate?

• Dr Ndayi lectures politics at the University of Fort Hare