FRIDAY, 8.30AM:
LOW-KEY Gerald Morkel became the most powerful coloured person in the National Party when he defeated his flamboyant opponent Peter Marais on Thursday night to become party leader in the Western Cape, the last remaining NP stronghold.
But Morkel’s first few hours of power gave him little chance to savour his success:
First, he attempted conciliation by offering the ANC a place in his cabinet — an offer that new ANC leader Ebrahim Rasool, appointed last week, rejected out of hand.
Next, rival Marais claimed his NP colleagues had rigged the voting against him, and that he had actually won by 54 votes to 32. Marais was in tears when the result was announced.
Morkel was not fancied to take the seat ahead of the better-known Marais, with a lack of flair and charisma counting against him. But in the end, the party appears to have preferred his cautious and gentlemanly style to the volatile Marais’ aggression.
Both the ANC and the NP now have coloured leaders in the province. And despite ANC accusations that the NP was attempting to racialise the elections, this is acknowledgement by both sides that the coloured community holds the key to victory.
Morkel’s election as provincial premier by the NP caucus is now a foregone conclusion, and he will be inaugurated on May 11.