/ 6 February 1998

Race is on for Cape ANC throne

Andy Duffy

African National Congress Western Cape leader Dullah Omar will resign this weekend, opening the door to a lively succession race and the possible dissolution of the party’s entire provincial leadership structure.

The first public skirmish in the battle to fill Omar’s shoes broke out this week in two of the party’s most powerful regions in the province.

Senior officials in Athlone and Mitchells Plain dismissed reports that they favoured South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Franklin Sonn. Many party stalwarts believe such reports originated in Washington and among Sonn’s allies in the ANC’s central machinery.

Grassroots leaders say their backing is more likely to go to former provincial health and social services MEC, Ebrahim Rasool, leader of the ANC provincial caucus.

“We need someone who knows what’s been going on here, a sense of where we’ve come from and where we’re going,” says Jeremiah Thuynsma, chair of the party’s south-east metro region, which covers branches in Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and the Helderberg. “Before Sonn went abroad he did not play that much of a role.”

Omar says the election of ANC MP Tony Yengeni would not surprise him. He says the party’s three other former provincial MECs — Leonard Ramatlakane, Lerumo Kalako and Chris Nissen — are also possible contenders. Race, he adds, should not be a factor.

“We should not insult the coloured community’s intelligence by choosing a token coloured,” he adds. He also dismisses suggestions that religion may be an issue.

Rasool, who distinguished himself in the provincial Cabinet, is the only person so far to indicate he is in the running. Sonn, at least publicly, is refusing to comment, and Yengeni is not taking calls.

Many ANC officials believe the party should hold elections for the entire provincial executive alongside finding Omar’s successor. They also believe the voting should take place soon — which would mean bringing forward the provincial conference planned for September. One popular date for the conference is late March.

Omar declines to comment before this weekend’s provincial executive committee meeting, where he will table his resignation. But he adds: “We need to develop a strategy where the new chair and executive can settle down and plan the election … we can smell victory and it’s up to us to seize the initiative.”

Omar indicated shortly after the ANC’s national conference in December that he planned to step down, to concentrate on his duties as justice minister. He said that he had barely been in the province in the past two months.

The party has been in limbo since his announcement, waiting for the date of his departure.

Omar’s 11-page resignation letter outlines why the party lost in the province in 1994, why it could win in 1999, and why he wants as many candidates nominated as possible.

“The crux of the matter is that the tide is in our favour,” Omar says. “I’m not saying we will win, but the balance has changed. We have to translate that into votes — that’s a major challenge.

“In 1994 we made some mistakes for which we paid dearly. Organisation is of utmost importance. We need someone who is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week [as the new provincial leader].”

Omar says his departure was a personal choice, though discussed with the ANC at its highest echelons.

He declines to say whether the ANC at national level will seek the kind of influence in the Western Cape it exercised in leadership races in provinces such as Gauteng and the Free State.

Sonn’s stint as ambassador ends in July. He says he considers it “improper even to speculate” about his next move, but says he has “firm ideas of what I should like to do when my tour of duty has expired”.

The ANC in Mitchells Plain has similarly firm ideas. Thuynsma, who is also chair of the party’s Mitchells Plain zone, representing 11 branches in the area, says Sonn should not succeed Omar.

Brian Alcock, chair of the ANC’s Athlone south branch and executive committee member for the Athlone zone, says Rasool is “the best guy … he’s getting our support”.

The influential Cape Flats business group widely thought to have lobbied for Sonn, the Western Cape Traders Association, also distanced itself from the ambassador.

“If we supported someone it would have to be someone from the old United Democratic Front,” says chair Sharief Hassan.

Both Omar and Rasool came to the fore through the UDF.

Meanwhile, the ANC is reorganising its Western Cape constituency offices, merging several to bring numbers down by five to 35. Those affected include Rasool and Omar, whose offices in Athlone are to merge.