Confident that South Africa is now a stable democracy, the African National Congress has appointed the premiers in all nine provinces.
To date the ANC has tried not to rule with a full hand of provincial governments to try and ensure political stability by making minority groups feel they are represented in the highest positions of power. The representation of opposition parties in the provincial governments also increased South Africa’s democratic credentials in the eyes of some elements of the international community.
President Thabo Mbeki, who appointed the premiers, now believes that inside the country and internationally the ANC has won enough confidence in its policies for it to govern the country without the fig-leaves of opposition parties.
While many of the new premiers have been branded unknowns, most have a record in the ranks of the ANC. ANC officials also underline that the new premiers, overall, are relatively young. The motivation is that they must have the energy to pull the provinces into shape and put them in a position to increase the delivery of essential services across the country.
Mbeki has also turned his back on those who tried to secure jobs as premiers through lobbying and factionalism. But in three provinces — the Eastern Cape, the Free State and the Northern Cape — Mbeki’s choices raise the spectre of crippling factionalism as all three new leaders must guide divided turfs.
Beatrice Marshoff: Free State
This province best explains why Mbeki chose to appoint premiers only after the elections. In the Free State some ANC members had said they were not prepared to help the party campaign for the election if it brought in an outside candidate for the premiership.
While Marshoff (46) is not exactly an outsider, she is a complete surprise.
Supporters of ANC chairperson Ace Magashule, who was overlooked for the premiership for the umpteenth time this week, said Marshoff’s appointment would widen the gap between the ANC in government and the party’s provincial structures.
They pointed out that she was not even among the top 30 nominees on the original candidates’ list sent by branches to the national ANC office — underlining her lack of popularity.
Marshoff was not in the provincial executive appointed by Winkie Direko when she was made premier in 1999. But Direko included her during a reshuffle in 2001, making her provincial minister for social development.
A nurse by training, Marshoff faces the huge task of nursing the egos of many of Magashule’s supporters, who had taken it for granted that he would finally make it to the premiership.
She will certainly need their support when campaigning for the local government elections next year.
Magashule served as a provincial minister under the first Free State premier Mosiuoa Lekota in 1994, but both were removed from the province after bitter infighting. He has continued to be popular, while the ANC’s national office has persisted in appointing unfancied candidates such as Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, Direko and now Marshoff as premiers.
ANC members said Marshoff had not previously distinguished herself, either as a provincial minister or in the party, of which she is an ordinary member. However, she is a founder member of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union in the Free State and an executive member of various provincial health structures.
Edna Molewa: North West
Provincial agriculture minister Edna Molewa was always a frontrunner for the premiership, alongside former national MP and Women’s League veteran Thandi Modise.
Molewa is ANC Women’s League provincial chairperson and a former national MP. Her appointment represents a further slap in the face for Modise, who has suffered several defeats in contests for positions within the provincial ANC. Two years ago she was beaten by North West Premier Popo Molefe for the post of ANC provincial chairperson, and last year lost out in the race for the presidency of the ANC Women’s League to Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
Molewa faces the challenge of ensuring the recovery of the mining and farming industries in the North West, which have shed many jobs over the past few years. ANC spokesperson Elliot Mayisela said she was ideally suited to the task as she has held the portfolios of agriculuture and economic development and tourism in the provincial government.
North West is 67% rural and has a high unemployment rate. Molewa cut her teeth in politics as a trade unionist in the 1980s.
Thabang Makwetla: Mpumalanga
A huge sigh of relief was heard in Mpumalanga when the news arrived that the province is rid of premier Ndaweni Mahlangu, who was never taken seriously. In appointing Makwetla, Mbeki has opted for youth and dynamism in a position that has been one of the most fiercely contested in the country.
Mbeki has fulfilled the promise made when Makwetla was brought from his top post as an ANC whip in Parliament to stabilise a province torn by graft and infighting. Makwetla was first appointed to the provincial cabinet as safety and security minister.
While Mahlangu appears to have mitigated the corruption so prevalent in Mpumalanga before 1999, he was not a popular premier and lacked party support. As a result, he was forced to lean on other politicians, notably controversial provincial minister of public works Steve Mabona.
Makwetla faces the challenge of finally defeating the corruption and cronyism that has kept provincial ministers in office, despite clear incompetence and evidence of corruption. While he is respected at head office Makwetla must also try and win over the cooperation of the provincial ANC leadership under Fish Mahlalela.
Nosimo Balindlela: Eastern Cape
The appointment of Nosimo Balindlela has been greeted with surprise in the Eastern Cape, where she has occupied the post of provincial minister for arts, sports and culture.
A flamboyant woman who dressed up in school uniform as an education provincial minister and in colourful Xhosa regalia as culture minister, Balindlela has the tough task of convincing her critics.
In 1998 she was fired as education minister by Premier Makhenkesi Stofile after she battled to manage finance in her department and the province produced poor matric results. While Stofile was not expected to be reappointed, his successor is also a surprise.
”If the criterion is performance, how different is Balindlela from Stofile? She has also not performed in her posts — why reward non-performance?” asked an Eastern Cape regional ANC activist.
Sello Moloto: Limpopo
The ANC in this province says Mbeki could have appointed anyone as Limpopo premier because the party organisation there is solid and there were no favourites.
Despite being one of the country’s poorest regions, Limpopo delivered the ANC’s biggest majority countrywide. As provincial health minister, the new premier, Sello Moloto, is said to have played an effective role in delivering to the loyal but long-suffering citizens of the province.
Limpopo is a drought-affected rural province that faces large-scale unemployment and the task of providing water to rural villages. ANC provincial secretary Cassel Mathale said they were hoping that there would be spin-offs from Limpopo’s significant economic growth of 6% in the past few years.
Moloto is ANC deputy secretary in Limpopo as well as South African Communist Party chairperson in the province. He therefore has the necessary political support base.
He takes over from Ngoako Rama-tlhodi, who served two terms and is now leaving for the national government. Ramatlhodi brought under control the infighting that had led to the ANC disbanding its provincial structure in 2001.
Mbhazima Shilowa: Gauteng
Acclaimed across the parties as hard-working and clear-minded, Mbhazima Shilowa was the obvious choice to continue as premier in South Africa’s economic heartland. His immediate challenge is to elect a new provincial cabinet, which is expected to undergo changes.
Shilowa has to replace former provincial financial minister Jabu Moleketi, who has moved to the national Parliament after two largely successful terms in the province. He is also likely to appoint current Gauteng speaker Firoz Cachalia to the provincial executive, ANC sources say. One of his challenges is deciding what to do with less-than-impressive provincial ministers, including transport minister Khabisi Mosunkutu.
ANC officials in the province believe the new provincial finance minister will either be current housing minister Paul Mashatile or local government minister Trevor Fowler. Cachalia could also be considered. They said the new provincial finance minister would have to come from the current crop of serving provincial ministers because of the position’s seniority and the need for continuity.
Shilowa’s spokesperson, Thabo Masebe, would not be drawn into speculation, saying Shilowa would announce his new team on Thursday next week. ”Just as the premier was not retained automatically, all the positions on the province executive are vacant until the premier makes his announcement,” Masebe said.
Ebrahim Rasool: Western Cape
Jobs and housing are top problems in the province. Redressing racial inequalities in employment opportunities and basic services — the often cited ”marginalisation of Africans” and the ”insecurities of coloureds” and ”white fears” — are another priority.
The housing department has not performed, many in the provincial government admit privately. Not only has it underspent and mismanaged millions of rands, the housing backlog has increased to 350 000. Yet there is only enough cash to build 20 000 units a year.
Job creation is already receiving attention since last year’s Provincial Growth and Development Summit. It pledged to ensure 120 000 new jobs by 2008. Much of this will depend on provincial government initiatives like public works jobs linked to infrastructure construction, such as various new transport corridors.
Half-a-million people are unemployed, according to provincial 2004 Budget figures. This number is the lowest in the country, but still marks an increase of 150 000 over seven years. Much of this is ascribed to migration from other provinces. Most affected are African work-seekers: only three in 100 actually were employed compared to 92 in 100 whites between 1995 and 2002.
Rasool seems to be well-equipped to deal with the main problems facing the province. He has served as the provincial finance minister and has had experience in trying to get the provinces economy growing and creating jobs.
He obviously did well enough in the job to win the approval of President Thabo Mbeki. Before the 1999 election, Mbeki was said to have had his eyes on another candidate, but was convinced at the last minute to back Rasool. This time around Rasool had the president’s support from early on in the campaign.
Rasool, who has a shrewd, analytical mind, has successfully negotiated the pitfalls of serving under a New National Party premier and rivalries within his own frequently fractious organisation. He has had to fight off a number of attempts to unseat him as ANC provincial chairperson over the years.
He will also have to keep the NNP in the provincial government as the ANC coalition needs their 10% of the vote to take control of the provincial government. Some say he’s dull —he’s not one of the most rousing public speakers even if he has been brushing up on his skills. However, his quiet, reasoned demeanour is most probably part of what allows him to bridge the many racial and cultural divides in the province.
A long-time anti-apartheid activist in the Western Cape, he is a devout Muslim, a one-time teacher and son of a District Six vegetable hawker.
Dipuo Peters: Northern Cape
Tackling widespread allegations of corruption in the provincial government and facing down a possible rebellion by factions in the provincial ANC will be among the biggest immediate challenges facing the new premier.
The corruption allegations are perhaps unexpected, since the province has long had a reputation as being one of the best run in the country.
But the corruption scandal that led to the resignation of a former provincial minister John Block and the resulting auditor general’s report revealed shocking irregularities regarding the granting of tenders.
The ability of Peters to tackle the allegations of corruption in the provincial government may be hindered by local political considerations.
Peters was not the choice of the ANC in the Northern Cape for the premier’s job — Block was their pick. Before his resignation Block had great support, especially around Upington. Peters, as the new premier, now has to find a way to keep together the ANC, which is threatening to split into a number of race and personality based factions.
In her favour, Peters has the support of Mbeki, to whom she has shown unfaltering loyalty.
A former social worker and member of the National Assembly, she was the health minister in the province. Her hand will also be strengthened by her record of delivery in health in relatively trying circumstances.
Sibusiso Ndebele: KwaZulu-Natal
Sibusiso Ndebele has come out the victor in a bruising battle between the IFP and the ANC for the leadership of the province.
But although the ANC received the largest number of votes in the election it did not secure an overall majority. It is now faced with the tricky task of forming a governing coalition, with or without the IFP.
Pulling these different political strains together to form a working relationship will be Ndebele’s most difficult task. Although he was the predictable choice, it would perhaps have been prudent of Mbeki, with who Ndebele is thought to have a close relationship, to select a premier removed from the hostility in the province.
Ndebele has managed his portfolio as MEC for transport in the province well, which warmed his seat for the premiership. Although he is hotheaded, he is also a tough administrator and faces the overwhelming task of inspiring confidence in the provincial bureaucracy which has evolved out of party political patronage going back to the homeland and tricameral days.
KwaZulu-Natal has a considerable developmental lag, particularly in terms of HIV/Aids and the delivery of services such as water, electricity, education and housing. It is also notorious for underspending on its budget.