ANC representative Smuts Ngonyama on Friday denied that the party had had to intervene once again from national level in the affairs of its feuding Free State branch.
Ngonyama however confirmed a report that a committee of people deployed in the Free State, headed by Public Enterprise Minister Jeff Radebe, had agreed with the provincial executive committee to let the defiant speaker of the Free State legislature, Jani Mohapi, remain in his position until he had finished an evaluation of the workings of the legislature.
Mohapi refuses to obey an order by the new provincial ANC leadership to resign as speaker and accept a position in Parliament in Cape Town in return.
Ngonyama said on Friday that the decision to let Mohapi stay on constituted no intervention by the national ANC.
”The provincial leadership consulted with headquarters, and a proposal was made to them that it is perhaps suitable to let the speaker continue to do his evaluation and finish it. After that, the situation will be evaluated again.”
He confirmed a report on Friday quoting him as saying that there is no crisis in the Free State and that the problems there are being handled by the provincial committee and a committee of deployees.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader in the Free State legislature, Pieter Geldenhuys, said that Mohapi apparently won the fight to retain his speaker’s chair for the time being.
”There were threats of suspension (of Mohapi by the provincial ANC), but nothing came of this. The speaker evidently has more authority than his provincial chairman Ace Magashule,” Geldenhuys said.
Geldenhuys complained that no sitting of the legislature is scheduled for next week, after sittings were postponed twice in one week due to Mohapi’s refusal to obey his party leaders’ orders.
This means that the reports of the various departments could still not be tabled and debated. – Sapa