The replacement for Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele as housing minister is likely to be drawn from the ranks of existing deputy ministers, political observers speculate.
Prominent among the names being bandied about is that of Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. However, sources close to the presidency feel that individuals in the housing sector, such as deputy head of the National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency Nonhlanhla Mjoli-Ncube, could be in the running.
Mthembi-Mahanyele was elected as the African National Congress’s deputy general secretary last month. The party position is full-time, so there is a Cabinet vacancy.
A senior ANC member suggested the successor would be a woman with a high profile and a strong activist background.
“Because of the economic inequities and disparities in the country, she must be someone able to empathise with the poor.”
Another emphasised that the housing ministry was “a critical and strategic delivery portfolio. The successor should have a high profile that would enable communities to relate to her.”
Mapisa-Nqakula (46) is viewed as one of the senior ANC women with the required profile and capacity to run a ministry. However, other factors suggest a different career course for her.
Mapisa-Nqakula, who moved into home affairs last year, is also seen as an appropriate candidate to replace Mangosuthu Buthelezi, should the Inkatha Freedom Party withdraw from the national government after next year’s general election.
Other ANC members insist her presence in the home affairs portfolio will be critical for the party ahead of next year’s poll.
An activist since the late 1970s, Mapisa-Nqakula went into exile in 1984 to receive military training in Angola and the former Soviet Union. She was redeployed in South Africa in 1990 to help set up ANC structures.
She has served as the secretary general of the ANC Women’s League, and replaced Tony Yengeni as ANC chief whip, where she earned praise for her energy and efficiency.
Mapisa-Nqakula and her husband, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula, are known to be close to President Thabo Mbeki. She served as whip for just five months before her promotion to deputy minister.
Mjoli-Ncube, who has a master’s in city and regional planning, also serves on the national housing ministerial special task team on housing delivery and is the national coordinator of the Women for Housing Group. Party sources say she is qualified and well-connected politically. However, there are others who wonder whether a “technocrat” would be appointed to the position.
Among the other names being mentioned for the national housing portfolio is that of former KwaZulu-Natal housing MEC Dumisani Makhaye, who was recently sacked from the provincial cabinet. Makhaye is also part of Mbeki’s inner circle.
While Makhaye’s critics in KwaZulu-Natal do not consider him “ministerial material”, others feel he has what it takes. Makhaye himself has indicated that he would prefer to remain in the province.
Makhaye is a relatively inexperienced provincial minister, having been appointed after the 1999 election. One senior KwaZulu-Natal official felt “this is too little time to judge whether he can deliver”.
Some in the ANC point to other women deputy ministers with the credentials for the housing portfolio. One is Deputy Minister of Provincial and Local Government Ntombazana Botha, another the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Lindiwe Hendricks.
Botha (59) comes from a United Democratic Front and South African Council of Churches background, while Hendricks (45) is a lawyer. Neither has a high public profile.
Other ANC members feel the articu-late and loyal National Council of Provinces chairperson Naledi Pandor (48) could be due for a promotion.
Pandor was elected to the ANC’s national executive committee last month. She is chancellor of the Cape Technikon.
Many expected her to take the deputy education portfolio two years ago. In the event, this went to the Azanian People’s Organisation leader Mosibudi Mangena.