Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu. (PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)
In what could be a game changer in the ANC’s run-up to its national conference in December, people supporting Stan Mathabatha’s third-term ambitions as Limpopo provincial chair have raised concerns about perceived interference by those deployed to the province who back President Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies.
Insiders say the head of organising, Senzo Mchunu, has allegedly been at the heart of attempts to “hold back” the conference to gain the support of provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane to better their chances.
Two national executive committee (NEC) members said Mchunu had indicated to NEC deployees that the province was not ready to hold the conference. Mchunu has denied ever being in a meeting with the deployees, saying that other than being the chair of the subcommittee on organisation and mass mobilisation, “there is no other activity I’m engaged in Limpopo”.
Convener Thoko Didiza is believed to have given the conference the green light.
Mchunu is said to have mentioned a possible court challenge emanating from the Peter Mokaba region, which sat in December last year.
Disgruntled members from Peter Mokaba are threatening court action if the region is allowed to participate.
Lekganyane is said to have petitioned top officials to delay the conference until the matter is resolved.
The Mail & Guardian understands that the disgruntled members belong to a faction that supports Lekganyane.
Lekganyane said: “In fact, the conference sat without the disputes being resolved. So those branches want those disputes to be addressed, because [if not], they are also going to affect the credentials of the provincial conference,” he said.
Those aligned to Mathabatha have argued that the disputes have been outstanding for more than four months, but the M&G understands that they have been resolved, with the provincial executive committee meeting this week and satisfying itself that it is ready for the conference.
Mchunu, a Ramaphosa ally, is said to be in Lekganyane’s corner. Lekganyane is contesting for a second term as provincial secretary.
He is on the back foot against those aligned to Mathabatha and, by extension, Danny Msiza, the perceived kingmaker. He will probably have to decline his nomination for provincial secretary, as he was affected by a decision taken by the NEC that those who have stepped aside should not contest in party conferences.
The ANC’s national disputes resolution committee (NDRC) attended 46 ward meetings in the province, with seven of those ordered to re-run branch general meetings (BGMs) this week to select their provincial nominees for the top positions.
In a letter to Lekgayane from the committee’s coordinator, Mduduzi Manana, 23 wards in the Norman Mashabane region had disputed branch meetings, with four ordered to re-run them. Eight branches in the Peter Mokaba region sent complaints to the committee and one was ordered to re-run its meeting. Complaints about the remaining seven were set aside. In the Sekhukhune region, seven BGMs were disputed and one was ordered to re-run; four meetings in the Waterberg were cleared and one was ordered to re-run.
On Wednesday, the Waterberg regional executive committee sent a letter to Lekganyane asking that it go to its regional conference before the provincial election sitting. The regional leaders said the region had received its signed audit report from the secretary general’s office, and the NDRC report, which confirmed that all disputes had been attended to. They added that their regional conference would not interfere with the provincial conference.
Should this request be granted, it would mean that the provincial conference is delayed for a day.
Insiders said that attempts to “find one another” are underway, with a proposal for some leaders to be co-opted from one slate to the other.
The M&G understands that those aligned to Ramaphosa are negotiating for Lekganyane and the current Norman Mashabane regional chair, Pule Shai, to form part of Mathabatha’s slate. Sources say Mchunu visited the province for four days last week, meeting regional and provincial players to help Lekgayane regain some ground in the province.
This is not the first conference this year in which Mchunu has been labelled as an interfering figure. He was accused of doing the same in KwaZulu-Natal’s Musa Dladla regional conference last month.
ANC KwaZulu-Natal chair Sihle Zikalala complained during the eThekwini conference of national leaders interfering in provincial and regional affairs. He called on ANC officials to attend to the trend.
This was after NEC member Zweli Mkhize was seen meeting delegates linked to the new regional chair Zandile Gumede’s campaign.
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