The African National Congress (ANC) retracted a statement on Tuesday that it would make an announcement on the reported axing of two premiers.
It said it could no longer indicate when a statement would be released — despite its Western Cape spokesperson Garth Strachan telling the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on Tuesday morning that Premier Ebrahim Rasool would be asked to resign.
”Our processes are still ongoing,” said national ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte, who earlier had said a statement would be released on Tuesday. ”I can give no time frame at all as to when we will be able to make a statement … We are discussing the situation in the two provinces and we will initiate communications.”
”The media are talking about premiers, not us,” Duarte added.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that the ANC national executive committee (NEC) had decided to sack the Eastern Cape and Western Cape premiers with immediate effect.
The decision to axe Rasool and Nosimo Balindlela was taken at the party’s NEC meeting in Gauteng as the ANC battled to contain chaos in its structures across the country ahead of next year’s general elections.
The SABC reported on Tuesday that the decision to ask Rasool to resign was taken after a meeting of senior ANC national leaders with members of the provincial executive committee in Cape Town on Monday.
The provincial leadership had been informed that Rasool would be asked to resign in the interest of the organisation, to allow the ANC to best prepare for the forthcoming elections.
His successor would be identified after following the necessary procedures, the report said.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape’s Herald newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, reported that the province’s premier, currently in China, would also be axed on Tuesday.
It added that provincial education minister Johnny Makgato and finance minister Billy Nel were expected to be ”redeployed”, while health minister Nomsa Jajula’s job was on the line.
The newspaper’s source said President Thabo Mbeki was likely to offer Balindlela a diplomatic posting.
The ANC said on Monday it would be sending officials to the Eastern and Western Cape to address problems there. ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said the planned visits followed a report by the NEC.
”We are not going to rush because the media has pre-empted the process,” Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg.
He said that the information contained in media reports ”may be a product at the end of that process” but added that the nation is ”not going to wake tomorrow without Nosimo or Ebrahim”. — Sapa