Late former deputy president David Mabuza. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Deputy President David Mabuza appears to be on his way out of the government, paving the way for his ANC counterpart, Paul Mashatile, to make his much anticipated move from Luthuli House to the Union Buildings.
Several well-placed ANC sources said this week that Mabuza, who failed to make the ballot for a second term at the party’s conference in December, had submitted a letter of resignation to the president on Monday.
They said although Cyril Ramaphosa had accepted the resignation, Mabuza still needed to formally resign as a member of parliament before leaving the government office he has occupied since February 2018.
Presidential spokespersons dismissed the claims that Mabuza had resigned as “rumour”, while the minister in the presidency said he had not been “fully briefed” on the matter.
But a number of ANC sources said the resignation was expected to be announced at the party’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting, which began on Thursday and was set to wrap up its work on Monday night.
It is not clear whether the meeting of the ANC’s top seven officials, which sat on Wednesday night, dealt with Mabuza’s resignation ahead of the NEC meeting.
This week Gauteng ANC chairperson Panyaza Lesufi told media houses that the party was sending Mashatile to the National Assembly — along with former Gauteng MPL Parks Tau — the first step required for him to move to government.
Mashatile has expressed a desire to head to government since his election as ANC deputy president in December, where he received a landslide majority over contenders Ronald Lamola and Oscar Mabuyane.
On Wednesday, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said Mabuza had not resigned and that a “rumour” that he had done so had been circulating for several weeks.
Mabuza’s spokesperson, Matshepo Seedat, also said there was “no truth” to claims that the deputy president had quit.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said although he had heard “gossip” about Mabuza resigning, he had “not been formally briefed on that”.
He said the cabinet reshuffle was ‘the purview of the president” but that Ramaphosa was expected to “close those gaps” created by the move of Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula full time to Luthuli House and by the move of Public Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo to the World Bank going into the last year of this government’s term of office.
Gungbele said: “You need to create conditions where you push. You push, you make a new drive. You try to redouble your efforts. You need healthy capacity to do that. The president has already spoken on that matter, that he intends to close that gap.
“I have no doubt that he will do that, in my view, at a time when it serves a useful purpose. If we were to do it in November or December it wouldn’t make sense.”
On the move by Mashatile to parliament, Gungubele said the ANC chief whip, Pemmy Majodina, was “better placed” to comment.
“I know that they were looking at the replenishing of the list [to parliament] and who may come in. I guess the deputy president of the ANC should be part of that, but I don’t have the details,” Gungubele said.
He said that the decision on what happened to Derek Hanekom and Pravin Gordhan, neither of whom had stood for the NEC in December, was “in the hands of the ANC”.
“The future of all of us is in the hands of the ANC. As ministers we don’t know what is going to happen,” he said.
The M&G understands that Maropene Ramokgopa, the ANC second deputy secretary general, is also being moved to the National Assembly, an indicator that she, too, is headed for a cabinet post.
Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said no resignation had been received from Mabuza. Mothapo referred the M&G to the ANC with regard to changes to the party’s lists.
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