Editing Thabo Mbeki (section)

=== Debate with Archbishop Tutu ===
In 2004 the [[Archbishop]] [[Emeritus]] of [[Cape Town]], [[Desmond Tutu]], criticised President Mbeki for surrounding himself with "yes-men", not doing enough to improve the position of the poor and for promoting economic policies that only benefited a small black elite. He also accused Mbeki and the ANC of suppressing public debate. Mbeki responded that Tutu had never been an ANC member and defended the debates that took place within ANC branches and other public forums. He also asserted his belief in the value of democratic discussion by quoting the Chinese slogan "let a hundred flowers bloom", referring to the brief [[Hundred Flowers Campaign]] within the Chinese Communist Party in 1956–57.

The ''ANC Today'' newsletter featured several analyses of the debate, written by Mbeki and the ANC.<ref name="anctoday-tutu1">{{cite web|last=Mbeki|first=Thabo|year=2005|title=The Sociology of the Public Discourse in Democratic South Africa / Part I – The Cloud with the Silver Lining|url=http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2005/at02.htm#art1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004164618/http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2005/at02.htm#art1|archive-date=4 October 2006|access-date=23 November 2006|work=ANC Today|publisher=ANC}}</ref><ref name="anctoday-tutu2">{{cite web|last=Mbeki|first=Thabo|year=2005|title=The Sociology of the Public Discourse in Democratic South Africa / Part II – Who shall set the national agenda?|url=http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2005/at02.htm#art1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004164618/http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2005/at02.htm#art1|archive-date=4 October 2006|access-date=23 November 2006|work=ANC Today|publisher=ANC}}</ref> The latter suggested that Tutu was an "icon" of "white elites", thereby suggesting that his political importance was overblown by the media; and while the article took pains to say that Tutu had not sought this status, it was described in the press as a particularly pointed and personal critique of Tutu. Tutu responded that he would pray for Mbeki as he had prayed for the officials of the apartheid government.<ref name="nu">{{cite web|last=Tutu, Mbeki & others|year=2005|title=Controversy: Tutu, Mbeki & the freedom to criticise|url=http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?3,28,10,1763|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213032334/http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?3,28,10,1763|archive-date=13 February 2007|access-date=23 November 2006|publisher=Centre for Civil Society|df=dmy-all}}</ref>