ANC treasurer general Paul Mashatile is on the verge of losing the mighty KwaZulu-Natal province’s support in his bid for the post of party deputy president in December.
ANC treasurer general Paul Mashatile is on the verge of losing the mighty KwaZulu-Natal province’s support in his bid for the post of party deputy president in December.
Five KwaZulu-Natal regions have come out against Mashatile following media reports that circulated among ANC members this week.
Mashatile raised eyebrows on Wednesday when he told journalists that he would be available for the position of party president if nominated from the floor.
The regional leaders who spoke to the Mail & Guardian said there was a common sentiment in the province that his nomination must be reassessed.
The regional leaders say Mashatile has failed to show support for their preferred presidential candidate, Zweli Mkhize, and that his lobbyists have not delivered nominations for Mkhize in other provinces.
KwaZulu-Natal is the largest in ANC and will take about 880 delegates to the December conference.
A leaked consolidated nomination list showed that Mashatile received more nominations than Mkhize. Mashatile was nominated by 763 branches for the position of deputy president and Mkhize received 643 nominations for that of party president.
Provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo confirmed that the regions and branches were unhappy about the lack of nominations for Mkhize in the Gauteng, North West and Limpopo, with which they have been negotiating.
“I know that there are several regions in KwaZulu-Natal that are unhappy. Comrades are asking why we nominate people who don’t nominate our candidates. When we talk to them they feel that they were not aware that this was going to happen,” Mtolo said. “The branches want Mkhize.
“It seems that we are supporting people who will not end up supporting us. We will support those who support us, not somebody who says they will support us but ends up bringing nothing to the table.”
Tensions between the KwaZulu-Natal regions and Mashatile have been brewing since his home province of Gauteng announced Cyril Ramaphosa as its preferred candidate as president, ahead of Mkhize.
Mashatile apparently also failed to meet a deadline set by the KwaZulu-Natal leadership to pronounce Mkhize as his preferred candidate.
Mtolo said the province’s preferences were still open to negotiation ahead of the conference.
“We are still in negotiations. As we said in our statement [when Mkhize and Mashatile were named as being nominated for president and deputy president] that this is not cast in stone,” Mtolo said, adding that the province was still negotiating with the Eastern Cape and other provinces over candidates.
“We are negotiating with the people who are supporting the president. We are negotiating with the people who are supporting Comrade Senzo [Mchunu], who is our former premier and provincial chairperson and provincial secretary.”
He said there was “no law” that KwaZulu-Natal should have a representative among the ANC’s top six leaders, and that the full 86-member national executive committee (NEC) was being contested.
eMmalahleni regional secretary Chris Mhlophe accused Mashatile of being dishonest and said he was not the right person to advance the renewal agenda for the party. His sentiments were shared by the other four regional leaders.
Mhlope said the region was not married to Mashatile’s nomination and had only nominated him in good faith, believing he would show loyalty to the province.
“We thought he is among a generation of leaders which must be featured in the top six. We are very concerned with the tone comrade Paul is taking and we are considering reviewing our support in terms of how the top six must be constituted,” Mhlope said.
“We are firm on comrade Zweli. We must not be taken for a ride. Some comrades think KwaZulu-Natal is a walk-over. Because it’s a rural province they [think they] can come from Gauteng and dribble us. They think we are naive, but we are not naive,” he said.
Lower South Coast regional chairperson Mondli Chiliza echoed these words, saying branches wanted the region to discuss their concerns with the provincial leadership.
“It’s the same branches who are not happy because they feel if you are nominated with these people you can’t turn against them because it will seem like you have another plot that you are planning.”
According to the five regional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal, the tipping point against Mashatile was recent media reports which left them suspecting he is campaigning for party president.
News24 reported that Mashatile made the comment about being available for the position of party president during the ANC’s Letsema campaign in the North West. Mashatile enjoys support in that province and is, according to Mtolo, one of those that failed to deliver for Mkhize.
Business Day reported that Mashatile raised concerns about the Phala Phala and Digital Vibes scandals, which have engulfed Ramaphosa and Mkhize respectively. Mashatile reportedly said that corruption allegations against Ramaphosa and Mkhize could be the death knell for the party in the 2024 general election.
Talk radio SAFM also reported that Mashatile was urging delegates going to next month’s ANC conference to elect reputable leaders to save the party. KwaZulu-Natal regional leaders saw this as an inappropriate public rebuke of Mkhize
“He had a platform in the NEC to champion his views. He is wrong by going to the media,” Harry Gwala regional chairperson Zama Nxumalo said. “The posture that he has demonstrated is his own goal. He does not qualify to lead the [ANC] renewal.”
Nxumalo added that the region would now look for an alternative to Mashatile and consult others. He took umbrage over ANC leaders raising the Digital Vibes scandal, saying Mkhize had not been forced to step aside as health minister as a result of it, but chose to do so because there was a pending investigation.
“That investigation has provided no proof of wrongdoing by Mkhize. In fact, if it was not because of factions or the conference season, the president should have reinstated him,” Nxumalo said.
Musa Dladla region’s secretary, Nathi Xulu, said Mashatile was never the region’s first choice for deputy president, and there was a view that Mchunu must take preference. Xulu said his region was also home to former president Jacob Zuma, who had expressed his interest in the national chairperson position.
“Those are the people we would have ideally lobbied for because they come from our region,” Xulu said, accusing Mashatile of “selfishly looking after his own interests”.
Xulu said Mashatile was not the man to lead the renewal agenda. “He is implying that everyone else is corrupt and he is the only one eligible. He thinks because of Phala Phala, he will take over as president. We have other people who we can stand behind, we are not out of options as the KwaZulu-Natal.”
Josia Gumede regional secretary Bonga Hlomuka did not mince his words, calling Mashatile “dishonest” and “disloyal”.
“Definitely we will review [our] support and look at who we can support. The only person we can support is the one loyal to our candidate. As KwaZulu-Natal regions we have met and we have briefed our branches to review support for comrade Paul,” Gumede said.
“We were hoping that Paul was part of comrades who understood the ANC and he would take us towards renewal. His people assured us that they will support our candidate.
“We have nominated him in almost 95% of our branches but now he is changing. That is why we are saying we no longer believe in him to drive the agenda of renewal because we have seen that he is not loyal. Even on the door steps of the conference we can change [our minds] if people are not loyal to us.”
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