Gordhan, Mantashe cry foul over Mbalula threats

Two senior cabinet members — Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan — have called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to protect his cabinet from attack by ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula. 

The Mail & Guardian understands that the ministers requested that Ramaphosa take action against Mbalula after his public remarks against them, in which he threatened both with dismissal, should they not fall in line with ANC and government policy.

Reliable sources also say Gordhan has asked Ramaphosa to release him from his position several times but the president has asked the minister to stay until next year’s elections. 

One source close to Gordhan said the minister has made clear that he wants to leave cabinet to focus on his family and health. 

Two former cabinet members with close links to Ramaphosa said Gordhan had indicated his intention to leave the cabinet before the last reshuffle but had remained because removing him would have sent negative signals to the public. 

“Dropping Pravin, specially at that time when there was a bit of tussle between him and Mantashe, would have sent out the wrong signal. 

“Yes, it’s true that PG [Gordhan]would like to go but he wants a few things in place,” one source said.

The close ally of Gordhan said the minister had agreed with Ramaphosa to fix Eskom, SAA and Transnet before his exit from the public enterprises portfolio, which will “cease to exist” after next year, according to Ramaphosa.

“Pravin was under this illusion that, before the elections, he would get this holding operation in place but it would need enabling legislation and it’s just not going to happen,” they said.

“I think he must just resign himself. I don’t think you are going to see major cabinet reshuffles unless something precipitates it. 

“I don’t think you will see reshuffles until the elections.” 

Two long-standing political allies of Gordhan told the M&G that the salvo from Mbalula had been expected, given the realignment taking place in the ANC after its December elective conference.

“There is a perception that PG has been a pillar of the Ramaphosa project — and a threat — and with the shifting alignment in the ANC, there will be attempts to test this, to see what the reaction will be, how far people can go,” said one of them, who asked not to be named.

“This isn’t unexpected. There is a (mistaken) belief that PG is part of Cyril’s kitchen cabinet. 

“They work well together, and on a high political level, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that, at this point, PG is in the kitchen.”

“PG is cautious and very disciplined and will not sign off on anything he doesn’t believe the president will approve. That is why there have been so many delays in appointments in the entities — because he is not in Cyril’s kitchen and doesn’t have the backing.”

Ramaphosa’s management style has allowed some figures in the ANC, such as Mbalula, freedom to further their own agendas and build their support bases in the party, which would also have influenced the weekend swipe at Gordhan.

A senior member of the ANC Veterans League, who also asked not to be named, said there was an understanding that Gordhan would not serve in the next cabinet, which would have increased his vulnerability for the “unwarranted” attack.

They said that Mbalula’s behaviour was already an “embarrassment” due to his “uninformed statements” at a time when he should be “getting down to the branches and making sure that everybody is at work”.

The ANC leadership had shown “timidity” in their comments rectifying Mbalula’s utterances, instead of rejecting them outright and “firmly disassociating the ANC from his statements”.

The other Gordhan ally said that, in his call to Ramaphosa, the public enterprises minister had said that he “would not tolerate” being chastised by Mbalula. 

“He told him that he has stayed in cabinet to help Cyril fix these state entities and he would not tolerate being humiliated by the likes of Mbalula. 

“If Ramaphosa had issues with his work, he must speak to him,” the former minister said. 

This was the sentiment expressed by Mantashe during his own conversation with Ramaphosa, high-level ANC insiders said. 

“Mantashe told Cyril to protect his cabinet from the ANC secretary general. You can’t have the secretary general making threats to senior cabinet members. He expressed this to the president,” one insider close to Mantashe said. 

Mbalula publicly chastised the two ministers and threatened to give them the chop in separate public platforms. 

The most recent lashing came last week during the ANC Women’s League conference when Mbalula told Gordhan to fix the state rail, port and pipeline company Transnet or he would be removed. 

“Comrade Pravin, move faster or otherwise we will move you. Comrade Pravin, move faster at Transnet or otherwise we will move you,” Mbalula said.

After Gordhan’s call to Ramaphosa, the president is said to have called Mbalula to give him a dressing down. 

“He told Mbalula that matters of deployment must be handled differently. He said that he was capable of handling his deployees in cabinet and that it was not good for the ANC to handle matters of performance in the media. 

“The president was clear that it’s uncomradely to single out certain ministers,” the ANC insider said. 

Speaking at the ANC’s local government interventions workshop this week, Mbalula said Gordhan had gone to the president “crying” and complaining that he was being singled out. 

He said he had been forced to release a statement retracting his earlier comments on Gordhan.  

In a Sunday Times interview earlier this month, Mbalula said  Luthuli House would back Ramaphosa if he decided to take action against Mantashe for defying him. 

This was after Mantashe failed to attend a European-funded green energy initiative. Mbalula is reported to have said that this amounted to gross defiance — and Ramaphosa had the ANC’s support if he acted against his minister.

Responding to questions from the M&G, Mantashe did not deny talking to the president but said, “If I talk to the president, I don’t report to the Mail & Guardian.” 

Both Mantashe and Gordhan have been among Ramaphosa’s most influential — and feared — allies in his consolidation of power within the ANC and have maintained key ministries despite public and internal criticism against them.

The president has left Gordhan in place at public enterprises despite repeated calls for his removal over his failure to turn troubled state-owned enterprises around and allegations of malfeasance in the Takatso consortium’s takeover of the national carrier.

Mantashe has remained in place despite his aggressively oppositional stance on renewable energy, which many commentators say has contributed to South Africa’s electricity crisis.

Ramaphosa had been forced to appoint Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to deal with the country’s power generation crisis, in parallel with Mantashe, as a result of this.