Former Gauteng premier David Makhura, who runs the ANC political school, said there was a need for the party to both educate its existing members and ensure that those who joined in future were “in good standing in the community”.
The Gauteng provincial executive committee (PEC) is unlikely to solicit support for outgoing premier David Makhura to gain a position among the ANC’s top six officials at the ruling party’s December elective conference.
The PEC, dominated by the so-called Adiwele faction, is said to have close ties with ANC treasurer general Paul Mashatile, a clear front runner for the deputy president position.
A meeting of the PEC resolved that Makhura should leave his position as premier by way of a “seamless transition”.
“I did make it clear to them that I am not resigning, but I want to hand over properly because that is my obligation,” Makhura said on Sunday after the meeting. Insiders who attended say Makhura has lost most of his allies in the PEC.
He is said to have lost favour with the likes of Dr Bandile Masuku and former presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko, who allegedly felt “abandoned” by Makhura at the height of the province’s Covid-19 PPE corruption scandal. Makhura failed to protect Masuku and Diko when they were asked to step aside from the PEC after being implicated in the scandal. In 2021 he fired Masuku, who was then the Gauteng MEC for health.
The move was seen by those in Masuku’s camp as the premier shifting the blame for corruption in the province. Masuku and Diko, who were charged with bringing the party into disrepute, were later cleared of all charges and reinstated in the PEC, but they did not recover their government positions. This was despite Makhura’s promise that he would reinstate Masuku in his executive council when he was cleared.
Makhura is likely to also find himself out in the cold as his closest ally, newly elected provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi, is surrounded by the Adiwele faction in the PEC.
Lesufi, who declared that the province would endorse Makhura for a top six position shortly after he was elected, faced a backlash from the Adiwele faction. In his closing address at the provincial conference where he emerged victorious, Lesufi had told delegates that the Gauteng ANC should not only protect Makhura, but would also advance his name at the national conference in December.
The dominant Adiwele faction, led by Lebogang Maile, Ekurhuleni chairperson Mzwandile Masina and provincial secretary TK Nciza, is confident that the PEC will choose Mashatile above anyone else for a position in the top six.
“There is only one person the PEC is sure about and that is Paul Mashatile. He is the only person that will be endorsed by the province for a top six position. We have not discussed any other name,” one PEC member told the Mail & Guardian, adding that the PEC was yet to decide on whether to endorse President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term.
The insider’s statement is a strong indicator of Mashatile’s authority in the province against that of Ramaphosa. Even before his ascension as Gauteng chair, Makhura has been a well-known ally of Ramaphosa and this is likely to translate to him being given a position established for him at the Union Buildings.
Another challenge facing Makhura in the lead-up to December is the debate around geographical spread and gender parity. At least three other powerful provinces, namely the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, are also hoping to put up a name for a position in the top six.
Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane’s lobbyists have been crisscrossing regions in the hopes of persuading party leaders to back his campaign for deputy president.
Mabuyane will be going head-to-head against Mashatile, who already has a foot in the Eastern Cape through the Maliya faction led by Babalo Madikizela.
Mashatile has also found favour in Limpopo and the North West, and those close to him believe he will likely gain numbers in KwaZulu-Natal.
The KwaZulu-Natal newly elected provincial leaders have not yet pronounced on a person they would like to see emerge from the province to the national top six, but the M&G reported in June that provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo was key to Dr Zweli Mkhize’s ambitions.
In Limpopo, the PEC has already proclaimed that Mashatile will be supported for the position of deputy president, giving him the backing of a second province. Limpopo is also adamant that its provincial chairperson Stan Mathabatha should emerge as the national chairperson.
Limpopo and the Eastern Cape have long held the view that Ramaphosa must return for a second term.
At the ANC’s Nasrec conference in 2017, Gauteng emerged triumphant as four of its leaders, Ramaphosa, Mashatile, Gwede Mantashe and the late Jessie Duarte, were elected into the top six.
“This was an anomaly that we know will never be repeated. Provinces will want expression and we can’t afford to spread ourselves thin,” one Gauteng regional leader said.
Gender parity will also be a challenge for any lingering ambitions Makhura might have. The rules recently adopted by the national executive committee (NEC) state that 50% of the NEC membership nominated by each branch should be women. Mashatile, in his capacity as acting secretary general, has urged branches to extend this rule to the branch nomination of the ANC’s top six to ensure that at least three nominees for officials are women.
“Branches are urged and encouraged to extend this rule to the branch nomination of officials as a collective, to ensure that at least three nominees for officials are women,” he said. The ANC Women’s League has already indicated that it will push for three women to be among the top officials.
Mmamoloko Kubayi, who is vying for the deputy president position, and Febe Potgieter-Gqubule, who has been touted for the deputy secretary position, will leverage on the NEC’s resolution to campaign. The two women are both from Gauteng. Potgieter-Gqubule is likely to find favour as she also represents the coloured community. The ANC has been accused of being inconsistent in its non-racialism policy during the election of provincial officials.
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