‘Bloemfontein for Bloemfonteinians!†This, apparently, is the rallying call of a group of ANC members determined to end the reign of Free State ANC chairperson Ace Magashule and his executive in the province.
In the past few weeks the provincial ANC has been taken to court by members and non-members attempting to stop the party from holding its five regional conferences, on the basis that there were irregularities in the processes at branch level.
The battle for the soul of the ANC took a nastier turn this week when it was revealed that the rebellious litigants were funded by senior ANC members who have fallen from power.
Former premier Winkie Direko admitted to funding a group of unemployed people from Bothaville who took the ANC to court because their names were not on the ANC candidate lists during the local government elections last year.
But she told the SABC that she funded the group out of compassion, as their houses were about to be attached because they could not afford to pay their attorney after they had lost the case against the ANC.
The ANC has also named former Mangaung mayor Papi Mokoena as key to an anti-ANC mobilisation campaign in the province. Mokoena was removed in 2005 after he was charged with corruption amounting to millions of rands during his tenure as executive mayor.
Mokoena left kicking and screaming after he initially disobeyed an ANC instruction to stop reporting to work as mayor. He was charged, along with his wife and other senior council officials, with fraud and corruption, and the case is continuing.
Provincial secretary Charlotte Lobe told the Mail & Guardian that the provincial executive committee noted the emergence of a grouping called Bloemfontein Forum, which is led by Papi Mokoena and Winkie Direko and whose rallying cry is ‘Bloemfontein for Bloemfonteiniansâ€.
‘It is the view of the PEC that this behaviour is foreign to the ANC, because South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. All matters that relate to this issue are currently being processed by the Provincial Disciplinary Committee,†Lobe said.
Magashule is the longest-serving provincial chairperson in the ANC and has been returned to office several times — even after Luthuli House disbanded his executive because of infighting. He has been overlooked for the post of premier since 1994, but this has not diluted his hold over his supporters in the province.
Two weeks ago, president Thabo Mbeki questioned how unemployed ANC members could afford to take the party to court.
The SABC then reported that it was in possession of a receipt for R20000 made out to Direko by an attorney representing the ANC members.
Direko this week promised to speak to the Mail & Guardian, but had switched off her phone at the agreed interview time. Direko has lost to Magashule in the ANC leadership battle, but was appointed premier by the ANC and served from 1999 to 2004 when she was returned to the National Assembly, where she is a member of Parliament.
Deputy chairperson Pat Matosa said the litigants had declined advice from the ANC to take their grievances to the ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe and insisted on going to court.
‘We asked ourselves what is it that these people are looking for? Are they fomenting a classic counter-revolution? It is very odd. Last week another group lost their case. But these people, some of whom live on grants from the state, had the money to immediately lodge an appeal the same day.
‘It seems to us they want to take over the party and impose their agenda,†said Matosa, himself a long-time survivor and ally of Magashule.
Lobe said the party had already held three regional conferences and that the next two will be in the next two weeks. This weekend the highly contested Motheo region, which includes Bloemfontein, will hold its regional conference. Motheo’s chairperson is Thabo Manyoni, who is considered a key Magashule lieutenant.
Lobe added that the party was about to conclude an investigation into the recent court cases, after which it would present a report to Motlanthe.