Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile continued to stonewall pressure from above for the removal of his cabinet ministers this week, telling the provincial legislature in Bisho there would be no dismissals.
In a speech Stofile also emphatically denied that members of the Eastern Cape African National Congress were planning a coup d’etat against President Thabo Mbeki at the party’s national conference in Stellenbosch next month.
The Mail & Guardian last week reported claims by senior ANC leaders in the province that Stofile and the MECs for Economic Affairs, Enoch Godongwana, Roads and Public Works, Phumulo Masualle, and Social Development, Ncumisa Kondlo, had been accused of plotting to vote Mbeki’s ideological opponents on to the national executive committee (NEC).
The leaders also said Stofile had been told to fire Masualle, Kondlo and Stone Sizani, the former MEC for education who resigned last week. Sizani was also allegedly named as a conspirator.
The province will send the largest delegation to the national conference — 655 out of 3 061 delegates.
In his speech, Stofile disputed the NEC’s rationale for annulling the leadership elections at the Eastern Cape’s recent provincial conference.
“We did not agree with the arguments of the NEC,” he said. “We did not agree that we had violated any regulations, because we ourselves developed the regulations of the conference. And that conference amended our regulations, because that is the sole body with the jurisdiction over the regulations. So we did not agree we did anything wrong.”
However, Stofile said that when the majority in the NEC felt the provincial conference should be nullified, the ANC in the province decided to accept the decision.
On the NEC task team deployed to “strengthen leadership” in the province, he said: “We are doing this with a light heart, because we know we have done nothing wrong, we have nothing to hide and want everybody to be on board.”
Sources said that at a meeting of the NEC task team last week, the party’s national chairperson, Mosioua Lekota, refused to answer questions on the possible firing of MECs in the province. The firing of MECs was the premier’s prerogative and therefore government business, he said.
Members of the ANC’s Eastern Cape executive also objected to the NEC statement last week nullifying the OR Tambo region in the province. They insisted the NEC had not discussed the region’s conference, which elected its leadership earlier this month in the presence of NEC members.
Spokesperson Phaki Hobongwana said the Eastern Cape ANC would hold its provincial general council next weekend to finalise nominations for the party’s NEC.