The second conference of South Africa's African National Congress (ANC), as a ruling party, is set to begin in Stellenbosch on 16th December. This week's Africa Media Watch looks at what the South African papers are saying about the state of Thabo Mbeki's party as it grapples with internal tensions and debate.

Growing pains

Many commentators are concerned about what they see as a gradual suppression of debate within an organisation that fought for democracy and pluralism during the apartheid era.

The stifling of ideological diversity in the ranks of the ANC has become a noticeable trend Mail & Guardian

"The conference marks the end of a honeymoon period for the ANC," the Johannesburg Star says.

Having won the right to elect their own government, South Africans "now want to taste the sweet fruits of freedom", such as land ownership, jobs, houses and clean water.

"Failure to comprehend this reality may cause the party to lose touch with the masses," the paper warns, and advises the party not to get bogged down in its own internal politics.

Less freedom

Johannesburg's Mail & Guardian agrees. "The stifling of ideological diversity in the ranks of the ANC has become a noticeable trend in recent years," it says.

It has centralised power and does not cherish dissenting views The Star

"If the ANC, as the single most influential organisation in this society, wants this country truly to become the driver of an African rebirth, it should begin by encouraging free-thinking within its ranks."

"The ANC wants to set up a network of disciplinary committees which will be able to act at every level of the party against members who 'violate' party policy," says the Afrikaans-language Beeld.

"A campaign has begun within the party... to ensure that 'dissidents' are not elected to the ANC National Executive Committee."

Centralisation

A columnist in the Star says President Thabo Mbeki's ANC is increasingly perceived as operating behind "an iron curtain". "It has centralised power and does not cherish dissenting views."

As we used to insist in the black consciousness movement, think and let think Business Day

Criticism within the party began after it gave the president the power to appoint premiers in the provinces where the ANC holds power, overriding the views of local party members, the writer states.

Independent-minded ANC members have been marginalised, he argues, and quotes an unnamed senior ANC insider as saying: "People will just say what they believe [Mbeki] wants said. They won't even engage him, even when he is wrong. This is the real danger. It is not that he threatens anybody but people want to be liked by the president because their political careers are intertwined to their livelihoods."

In the financial daily Business Day another commentator joins the chorus calling for internal democracy in the ANC.

"Ruthless criticism of all that exists, including one's own terrain, is the stuff of which sterling movements and parties are made," he says.

"As we used to insist in the black consciousness movement, think and let think. No better opportunity, and responsibility for a ruling party, than at your own congress."

Leadership hits back

ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe has denied there is a lack of democracy within the party.

"The ANC is one organisation. It is not an alliance... Once the ANC has adopted a position on any matter, it is binding on all ANC members, whether they are communists or capitalists," he told The Star.

It might well be this reaction to attempts by Mbeki's inner circle to strangle the left that could free up the space for free thinking within the ruling party Mail & Guardian

Former ANC president Nelson Mandela has also backed President Mbeki's leadership: "When an ANC member goes out and publicly criticises it, the party has every right to discipline that behaviour," he said.

Mr Mandela also rejected the claim that the ANC has become intolerant of dissent: "Criticism and open debate are the lifeblood of the ANC and that is why the organisation is the flagship of this country's democracy," he said.

Hopes for change

But at least one commentator struck a less downbeat note. In an opinion piece in the Mail & Guardian, Jaspreet Kindra targeted the ANC's top leadership, arguing that few members of the current national executive committee (NEC) like to be seen as opposing the Mbeki inner circle "for they fear they would immediately be labelled as potential opponents to the president".

But Kindra was optimistic that the next NEC, to be elected at the Stellenbosch conference, "will show greater freedom of thought than the outgoing structure" because the party is worried that a silencing of voices may cause a split in the ruling alliance.

"Ironically, it might well be this reaction to attempts by Mbeki's inner circle to strangle the left that could free up the space for free thinking within the ruling party."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.