The African National Congress leadership in the Western Cape faces a popular revolt when the party’s structures elect provincial and branch leaders later this year, according to an anonymous report being circulated in party branches.
It claims that the former regional chair, Minister of Transport Abdullah Omar, succeeded in unifying opposing factions in the province, but his successor, Ebrahim Rasool, has isolated members.
The strongly worded document which the ANC has dismissed as the work of a few individuals says “a gulf” has developed between the provincial leadership and members. A major reason for the unhappiness is the party’s poor showing in the municipal elections last year.
As possible replacements for Rasool the report names Minister of Social Development Dr Zola Skweyiya, MP Pallo Jordan, former party chair Reverend Chris Nissen, former provincial secretary James Ngculu, northern suburbs region chair Shaun Byneveldt, south-east metro region member Richard Dyantji and provincial executive committee member Nyami Booi.
Saleem Mowzer, the only councillor to win a ward in a coloured community on the peninsula, has been named as a strong contender for a position at leadership level. The ANC has distanced itself from the document, describing it as an attempt to discredit the organisation and its leadership. The report claims to be based on minutes of various meetings and on views expressed by ANC members, branch executive members, councillors and regional leaders throughout the province.
The Mail & Guardian reported earlier this month that Rasool was likely to be replaced at the party’s provincial congress in June, following the ANC’s dismal performance in the municipal polls. The ANC won only three municipalities and one district council of the 30 local governments in the province.
According to the document, regional leaders have expressed unhappiness with Rasool, provincial secretary Mncebisi Skwatsha and the party’s head of communications, Cameron Dugmore. Dugmore is being held responsible for encouraging divisions that led to defections from the party in the Southern Cape region before last month’s elections.
The leadership’s failure to address conflict in the Boland town of Worcester, which had voted overwhelmingly for the ANC in 1994, had turned the tide against them. The party is now battling with the Democratic Alliance for the support of independent candidates, who are mostly former ANC members.
The report points out: “Generally, the PEC [provincial executive committee] has fallen into a trap of focusing on crucial issues only during periods of crisis, directly resulting in insufficient time being allocated to solve these issues.” The document also provides details of faction fighting and campaigning allegedly being conducted by party members against their leadership.
It identifies two campaigns one in the south-east metro region (in Khayelitsha) and another in the northern suburbs region to oust the leadership. It identifies northern suburbs regional secretary Abubakhar Abrahams as the chief campaigner and head of a committee promoting Byneveldt as a “potential successor” to Rasool.
The document claims that Byneveldt has been consolidating his image within this region as well as in the rural areas. “They have also rejected advances by members of Rasool’s camp. Their potential to oust the top needs more attention,” warns the report. It also blames certain provincial executive members for becoming embroiled in “petty branch issues”.
Unhappy ANC members in Khayelitsha, which posted a low voter turnout in the municipal elections, abstained from campaigning and voting in the elections. The branches in the area, which forms a substantial chunk of the south- east metro region, are likely to pose a challenge to Skwatsha’s re- election as provincial secretary.
They apparently want the provincial leadership to reflect a more “Khayelitsha-friendly view, as opposed to the current Guguletu leaning”. The report says ANC members in the Zolani township in Ashton assaulted Skwatsha and threw chairs at him during a meeting. Ashton branch interim chair Thembani Ndyinini, while confirming the altercation, denied that Skwatsha had been attacked physically. He said members responsible for the outburst had been disciplined.
The anonymous report is being circulated along with a letter to Rasool from ANC MP Professor Ben Turok, urging the party to redirect itself from a black-centred approach to accommodate the needs of other races particularly coloureds in the province. “This is a multiracial country if we choose to ignore that we shall be punished and the recent election was the first sign of that,” says Turok.