In The Mail & Guardian, columnist Adriaan Basson asks the following:

Did the African National Congress jump the gun by recalling former president Thabo Mbeki on the strength of an untested, contentious high court judgement? 

It is a good question, and Basson strongly implies that the answer is yes.

Let me be even more blunt: Of course the ANC jumped the gun. But ever since Polokwane last December the knives had been out for Mbeki. Jacob Zuma and his allies simply needed a fig leaf. There was nothing about Judge Nicholson's decision, the one that provided the pretext for dumping Mbeki, that mandated any such thing. Indeed the allegations against Mbeki pale when placed next to those Zuma has faced, and yet Zuma retains his position not only as ANC president but also as presumptive president of South Africa. Now that it appears that Nicholson's opinion was suspect it is clearer than ever that the schisms within the ruling party have always been about power politics.