Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool’s days are numbered. Either the African National Congress’s (ANC) national leadership will give him a lifeline of another 13 months in office or, if the regional ANC leadership has its way, he could be out within the next few weeks.
The simmering conflict between the premier and and the ANC’s local leadership burst into the open during last week’s party lekgotla held in Cape Town, where senior provincial executive committee members told Rasool to his face that his time was up and that he should step down.
Rasool was subjected to this unprecedented onslaught at the party’s annual lekgotla, attended by ANC president Jacob Zuma and ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe. Members of Rasool’s own party accused him of mismanagement, of misleading the legislature and of destroying the party in the province.
‘It was very rough. His own party members nailed him. People told him to his face he must go and they gave reasons why he should go. Rasool got klapped by numerous ANC leaders, and his own people didn’t come out defending him because some of them are jumping ship,†a senior party official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and who attended the lekgotla, said this week.
Rasool apparently fought back, saying that his job was made impossible in the legislature because his own party was acting like the opposition.
Although no conclusions were reached regarding Rasool’s political future at the lekgotla, the Mail & Guardian was told by three senior party officials that Rasool would ‘most likely†not be removed from his job before next year’s election. The national ANC leadership had decided not to ‘rock the boat by removing any officials from key positions so shortly before an election, but to keep the organisation as stable as possibleâ€.
Apart from Trevor Manuel, Rasool is said to be the most popular ‘coloured†leader in the Western Cape. The ANC can barely afford to alienate coloured voters, as they make up more than half the total provincial vote. ‘It will be political suicide to sack him now,†an ANC official said.
The lekgotla did decide, though, that the province’s top five ANC leaders will meet the ANC’s top six national leaders within the next week or two to come to ‘some conclusion on the Rasool issueâ€, the M&G was told.
The top five ANC leaders in the Western Cape are ANC chairperson James Ngculu and deputy chairperson Randall van den Heever — both seen as Rasool supporters — secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha, deputy secretary Max Ozinsky and treasurer Lynn Brown, who are said to favour firing Rasool.
‘This will be the most crucial meeting regarding Rasool’s future. The national leadership wants stability and no purges, while the local leadership has had enough of Rasool. The provincial ANC leadership is firm — they want Rasool out,†a senior party official said.
It has been speculated that a compromise will be reached at this meeting. The national leadership is likely to agree that Rasool stays on, but that his provincial cabinet be substantially reshuffled.
Moloto also on the skids
Plans are afoot to remove Thabo Mbeki loyalists from the ANC leadership in Limpopo.
Limpopo Premier Sello Moloto has been put under pressure by supporters of Jacob Zuma, led by the ANC Youth League, to step down as premier before the country’s general election next year. The Zuma supporters want ANC provincial secretary Cassel Mathale to replace Moloto, who led the campaign for the re-election of Mbeki as ANC leader last year.
Asked if he would step down, Moloto said: ‘I’m doing my job. I will step down only if the people I am serving say my contribution is no longer needed.â€
ANCYL provincial secretary Julius Malema said the league would do whatever it could to ensure that Moloto was out of office before 2009.
‘If he does not do it himself, we will get the branches to take him out,†said Malema.
North West shake-out
The battle has moved to the North West, the source of much of Thabo Mbeki’s scant support at the Polokwane conference.
Some regions such as Southern District (Klerksdorp) and Bojanala (Rustenburg) are teaming up with Zuma supporters in Cosatu and the SACP to oust the provincial executive committee. The province, led by secretary Supra Mahumapelo and chairperson Edna Molewa, holds its congress in May.
An alliance leader in the province told the Mail & Guardian: ‘If the provincial leadership does not change, politics in the North West will never change. To have a progressive national executive committee [NEC] but a reactionary provincial executive committee does not assist us on the ground. Whatever the NEC decides might change in practical implementation on the ground.â€
But the youth league structure in the province supports the current leadership, despite excluding Molewa from its nominations list. It wants Mahumapelo to be retained and has proposed that the ANC chief whip in the legislature, Nono Maloyi, take over as chairperson.
The Zuma lobby wants the current Cosatu provincial secretary, Solly Phetoe, to be the new secretary and the former regional secretary in Bophirima, Phellwane Moloki, to be the new chairperson.