branches
Wally Mbhele
Despite Mathole Motshekgas conciliatory statements after he won the African National Congress Gauteng chair, a provincial conference early next year could result in a wholesale purge of ANC provincial executive members.
Motshekga, who spoke to the Mail & Guardian this week amid new speculation that heads would roll, does not believe relationships in the ANC have deteriorated so badly that reconciliation is not possible.
However, branch activists are believed to be dissatisfied with the present crop of ANC provincial leadership, who they believe will not give Motshekga full co-operation in the running of his administration if as is almost certain he assumes the premiership in January.
Indications are that Motshekga has no plans to reshuffle Cabinet as he is afraid that [ousted Cabinet members] will frustrate his work, said a provincial leader.
The only option left for him, argued sources, is to call a special conference where he can seek a new mandate from the branches. It is likely to take place early next year, and will, among other issues, seek to fill the position of the deputy chairmanship Motshekga vacated on Sunday.
Motshekga would not be drawn into this controversy. But he wasted no time in making his views known about how the public was misled about the real nature of the problem of finding Tokyo Sexwales successor.
The impression has been created that … if there were two candidates for the position, this means divisions or disunity. That is not the case. It is a question of how the democratic process operates, he said.
We had a task team which was mandated to receive nominations from branches, nominations which were then submitted to the provincial executive committee.
In keeping with our culture of consultation with the tripartite alliance partners, our names were taken to the alliance for consultation and to hear their recommendations.
But the ANC delegation at the tripartite meeting decided to ignore procedure when it agreed with some members of the alliance to excise Motshekgas name from the list of nominees.
The ANC delegation did not have a mandate to opt for one or the other candidate … What was supposed to be a recommendation was then presented as a decision to the press, thereby misleading the public about the real nature of the problem, he said.
It constituted mismanagement of the process, with the connivance of some of the leaders who condemned the process but not the product. So, you cannot define that as divisions.
Some senior ANC provincial leaders are reportedly apprehensive about their future in the leadership. Their open hostility towards Motshekga in the build-up to last weeks conference has damaged their ability to gain his trust.
MECs like Jessie Duarte, Jabu Moleketi and Amos Masondo openly called on people to support the Reverend Frank Chikane as the only candidate who is capable of achieving unity.
Because Motshekga is not willing to tamper with their portfolios at the moment, this will render it difficult for him to take decisions when he assumes the premiership, say ANC insiders.
Their reason for opting for Chikane was based on the fact that Mathole would not be able to unite the provincial leadership. They created the perception that an administration under his leadership would be in chaos. It was a well-orchestrated scheme, said an ANC insider.