Education spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi lost the contest for the position of Gauteng ANC deputy secretary general to a rival from the anti-Zuma camp.
President Jacob Zuma and his supporters in Gauteng suffered a blow when delegates at the ANC’s provincial general council rejected basic education spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi’s bid to become deputy secretary general.
Lesufi, who campaigned for the re-election of Zuma ahead of the national conference in Mangaung, lost the position to former West Rand regional secretary Boyce Maneli.
The post became vacant after disgraced former Gauteng housing MEC Humphrey Memezi was elected to the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) in December.
Zuma’s supporters had hoped that the election of Lesufi would help to tilt the balance in favour of the president in a provincial executive committee dominated by a powerful bloc opposed to his leadership.
In the run-up to Mangaung, the ANC in Gauteng pushed for a change in national leadership and supported Kgalema Motlanthe, who was then the deputy president of both the party and the country, for the position of ANC president.
A pro-Zuma ANC member, who preferred not to be named, told the Mail & Guardian this week that the president and his supporters have all but lost their grip on power in Gauteng, the engine room of the South African economy.
“Panyaza [Lesufi] was humiliated at the provincial general council,” said the Zuma supporter following the council meeting over the weekend. “The numbers were overwhelmingly against him.”
Factional divisions
“We had hoped that the inclusion of Panyaza in the top five, which is dominated by anti-Zuma people, would have tilted the balance in Gauteng. The aim was to make sure that President Zuma had a modicum of control or representation in the economic hub of the country. Unlike former president Thabo Mbeki, Zuma will be serving his second term without being in control of Gauteng – a very key province for anyone in charge of government and the party.”
The factional divisions within the Gauteng ANC have been present for some time. Zuma’s decision to appoint Nomvula Mokonyane as premier ahead of Paul Mashatile in 2009 angered Mashatile, who is arts and culture minister and chairs the ANC in the province.
“JZ stands no chance at all of ever commanding Gauteng,” a delegate who attended the Gauteng provincial general council told the M&G. “Mashatile and his people are strong, going into the provincial congress immediately after the 2014 general elections. All they [the pro-Zuma faction] can do now is make peace with Mashatile and his supporters.”
The delegate added: “The province has outmanoeuvred JZ. They have successfully replaced Memezi without any hurdles at all because they have their ducks in a row. The JZ forces are worried that they will be marginalised during the list processes. The danger with this is that JZ will be undermined until 2017, when a new leadership is expected to be elected. The forces of change will also have the chance to openly build a formidable programme for 2017 without any hassle. This is the scenario of the future.”
Zuma’s supporters from Tshwane and Sedibeng tried unsuccessfully at the weekend to halt the council, saying that it was not properly convened and that no branch general meetings had been held.
Their complaints that the Gauteng provincial general council violated certain clauses of the party’s constitution were dismissed by the national secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, and the party’s national executive committee deployees led by Susan Shabangu.
Inconsequential
A pro-Zuma senior provincial leader accused Mantashe of denying branches an opportunity to nominate voting delegates, as defined by the ANC constitution.
“Mantashe has reaffirmed these people,” said the provincial leader. “He defended their mess. He has ratified the violation of the ANC constitution. He should have told them to stop but he closed his eyes and said he will leave it to the national executive committee deployees. He should have investigated the matter, rather than side with them. They clearly have an upper hand on Mantashe. They have managed to influence him to reaffirm them.”
ANC provincial spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli dismissed the allegations against the council and said Mantashe did nothing wrong.
“Their complaints were dealt with at the beginning of the provincial general council and were found to be inconsequential and dismissed by the delegates. It was held within the parameters of the ANC constitution and there was nothing wrong,” said Ntuli.
At the council, provincial secretary David Makhura is alleged to have complained about “bitter” people who were targeting the ANC Gauteng leadership with the aim of disbanding it. Makhura told delegates that their critics would have been happier if the current provincial executive was reckless, faction-ridden, paralysed and dysfunctional so that there would be an objective basis for disbandment.
Addressing the provincial council, Mashatile appealed for unity and urged members to start the list process. The party will start compiling a list of candidates to represent to Parliament and the provincial legislature at the end of July.
Nkenke Kekana, an ANC provincial executive committee member, said the council had resolved that corrupt members would be excluded from their list processes.
“We want to put the best of the best on those lists,” he said. “We cannot tolerate corruption. Any person who has a questionable character will have to be subjected to a rigorous test by our integrity committee.”