Bongani Majola and Justin Arenstein
Paranoia ran rampant in Mpuma- langa this week, with Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu and other African National Congress leaders scrambling to secure nominations ahead of the party’s provincial conference on Friday.
A record five nominations are expected for the coveted chairperson’s seat, with Mahlangu facing challenges from powerful ANC Youth League, union, and “clean government” candidates.
His office jumped to defuse the province’s newest scandal this week the entire provincial cabinet is allegedly being paid to live in their own houses at the taxpayers’ expense.
Mahlangu has not received any of the money, but new evidence this week indicated that he had failed to pay rent required by national regulations for living in a state house since his inauguration.
His spokesperson undertook to comment on the issue but failed to respond by the time of going to press.
Economic and finance MEC Jacob Mabena has been named as a key figure in one of the anti-Mahlangu factions. He refused to comment on the rental scandal and also denied that he was in the running for Mahlangu’s position or any other senior party post.
The divisive squabbling is not new. Mahlangu’s predecessor Mathews Phosa, was unseated in 1999 by similar faction fighting involving many of the same players. In fact, the strongest anti-Mahlangu faction was also Phosa’s key opponent.
The group is led by outspoken backbencher Fish Mahlalela and supported by a coalition of disgraced former provincial cabinet members, including former environmental affairs supremo David Mkhwanazi and former housing MEC David Mabuza.
Mahlalela, Mkhwanazi and Mabuza were all ousted from cabinet positions for alleged mismanagement or corruption, but have remained strong regional leaders.
Mahlangu’s nearest apparent contender, legislature speaker William Lubisi, is campaigning on a “clean government” ticket with the support of the ANC’s labour union allies and tacit support from Phosa, who still enjoys widespread popularity and loyalty in the province.
“Everyone is looking for allies, and I tell them all that I am no longer interested in politics,” Phosa said on Thursday.
Mahlangu is currently placed third, with “dark horse” nominations expected from serving environmental MEC Candith Mashego-Dlamini and Mpumalanga “peacemaker”, Thabang Makwetla.
Mashego-Dlamini is a veteran Mpumalanga politician who survived the purges of Phosa’s regime, while Makwetla is a newcomer who was appointed safety and security MEC last year as part of an ANC national executive committee attempt to bridge the factional fighting. Neither was available for comment, but electoral insiders indicate that both failed to win the necessary minimum nominations from ANC branches.
A leaked ANCYL document, reported in the Mail & Guardian last month, backs Mashego-Dlamini after noting that “all those squaring for positions are either MECs or MPLs who seek to position themselves in the organisation strategically in pursuit of their agendas”.
Kgaogelo Lekgoro, one of the ANC’s “national deployees” sent to Mpuma- langa to the conference, meanwhile dismissed all talk of factions.
Transport director general moved on
Wisani wa ka Ngobeni
Cabinet this week approved the redeployment of Department of Transport director general Sipho Msikinya to the South African Maritime Authority (Samsa), effectively ending the conflict between him and his minister Dullar Omar.
Senior departmental sources sympathetic to Msikinya, who has been appointed Samsa CEO, said the Cabinet decision was a major victory for Omar, who has been seeking to oust his director general since the middle of last year.
Sources said Msikinya’s rocky relationship with Omar was beginning to cripple the department’s ability to discharge its public mandate.
Msikinya joined the department two years ago on a five-year contract. The problem, say department sources, started when Cabinet appointed Msikinya against Omar’s will.
The relationship between the two began to hit the rocks when the minister sought “to interfere with administration issues, such as the appointment of staff”. Msikinya, said sources, objected to Omar’s attempts which angered Omar, who started side- lining him.
“The breakdown of the relationship started to encourage Msikinya’s deputies to undercut his authority,” a source said.
The problems became public last month when Msikinya clashed with one of his deputies, Sipho Khumalo, over a “warning letter” written by himself accusing Khumalo, the deputy director general for regulation and safety, of making “non-factual” remarks to misinform the minister about management issues in the department. Khumalo had apparently told Omar that there had never been a top management meeting in the department.
In his response, Khumalo launched a scathing attack on Msikinya, accusing him of seeking to surround himself with “lapdogs”. He also denied all allegations levelled against him and said he considered Msikinya’s “warning letter” to be null and void.
It is not yet clear who will succeed Msikinya. Departmental sources said, however, Omar prefers Jerry Makokoane, who is a deputy director general in the department. Omar’s spokesperson was not available at the time of going to press.