Fierce battles have raged as provincial secretaries and provincial list committees have each attempted to cement their authority. This was most evident in the North West when the interim provincial leaders and the provincial list committee fought over council lists, with acting secretary general Jesse Duarte having to intervene.
Four ANC provincial secretaries have pointed to the recent national working committee (NWC) decision to appoint new committees as strong evidence of their authority being usurped.
The secretaries, who spoke to the Mail & Guardian anonymously, said they would raise the issue at the next national executive committee (NEC) meeting that is expected to sit in the last weekend of March.
Their frustration has been heightened after a decision by the NWC to install new committees and remove the members of existing ones. The decision was made at the last NWC meeting on 28 February.
The M&G has previously reported that the ANC is planning an overhaul of its committees, with some prominent names outside of its NEC likely to join its crucial disciplinary committee as it prepares for the fallout from the damning Zondo Commission Report.
A document compiled by the NWC during its meeting — a copy of which the M&G has seen — proposes the restructuring of key committees, including those on economic development and the national disciplinary committee and its appeals body.
Another committee that has raised concern among the secretaries is the elections’ committee, which the NWC proposed would be chaired by Fikile Mbalula.
The ANC introduced an elections committee headed by former president Kgalema Motlanthe in the build-up to the local government elections last year. With it, provincial list committees were established to oversee the selection of councils by branches and communities.
This process has led to fierce battles as provincial secretaries and provincial list committees have each attempted to cement their authority. This was most evident in the North West when the interim provincial leaders and the provincial list committee fought over council lists, with acting secretary general Jesse Duarte having to intervene.
Two provincial secretaries said the matter would have to be tested against the ANC’s constitution. They contend that the secretary general’s office is the only department charged with overseeing the installation of committees.
“Why must we take matters of the secretary general’s office and discuss them in the NEC? Our constitution is clear … It’s clear that the secretary general is the chief administrator of the ANC. He or she shall communicate decisions of the officials, give minutes and also these departments are departments he must prepare. It’s that office which is mandated to appoint parliamentary committees, then after it goes to the top officials. Why are we changing this formula?” a provincial secretary said.
A provincial coordinator who also cried foul over the overhaul of committees added that the problems with secretaries and the NEC arose early on when President Cyril Ramaphosa started delivering his closing address publicly at NEC meetings.
“I knew then that this was going to be a problem,” the provincial coordinator said, adding that this usurped the power enshrined in the party constitution for the secretary general to deliver statements to the president’s office.
“This NEC will be tough. In normal circumstances these committees have the same term as the NEC, however it can be changed. We have been sidelined in most of our functions, especially our constitutional obligations. These functions are centralised in dark corners. Our powers have been curtailed.
“It must be clear what the constitution says on this matter. Why do you want to review committees when you have only six months in office? They want their hands on the SGO’s [secretary general’s office] and that is a problem. Don’t come with things that are outside the constitution and resolution of the conference and you want to push to implement. They must leave us to run the office because they respect other offices.”
This is not the first time secretaries have pointed to being frustrated.
In February, secretaries fiercely opposed an inclusion of Ramaphosa ally Gwen Ramokgopa as the coordinator in the secretary general’s office after Duarte took sick leave.
Among some of the changes, the NWC proposed that disciplinary committee chair Mildred Oliphant be replaced by Ralph Mgijima. Other notable proposed names include Thandi Orleyn, who was part of the Save SA campaign, former deputy minister of basic education Enver Surty, former legal adviser in the former National Intelligence Agency advocate Kerensa Millard, and businessman Robinson Ramaite.
NEC members who have been added to the list include Susan Shabangu, Faith Muthambi, Lindiwe Maseko and Nocawe Mafu.
The document proposes that the NEC appoint at least six members, but not more than 10, from its membership and other structures of the ANC. One of them, it says, will be designated as chairperson, to constitute the national disciplinary committee and its appeals committee.
ANC veteran Johnny de Lange has been proposed as Mokonyane’s replacement to chair the disciplinary appeals body.
Other names proposed for the appeals body are Krish Govender, former co-chairperson of the Law Society of South Africa, Max Boqwana, chief executive of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, ANC MP Lindiwe Hendricks, former cooperative governance deputy minister Ntombazana Botha, as well as former NEC member and Thabo Mbeki ally Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi.
Proposed NEC members on the disciplinary appeals committee list — which must be approved by the NEC — include Ramaphosa ally Firoz Cachalia, Sylvia Lucas and Phumulo Masualle.
A third provincial leader told the M&G that the secretaries had discussed among themselves the curtailing of their powers. They said it was evident that those aligned to the party president were gradually reducing their roles.
Although the provincial leader said that they share in the frustration of other secretaries of provinces, they added that some of the proposals by the NWC were in line with the conference resolutions.
“The issue maybe is what energy do you have now for the conference and it could be that we want to arrive at the conference having done some of the things that the leadership was mandated to do. Elections committee is a conference resolution but what makes some of us say look at the timing and seemingly the intention is that these committees functions look exactly like functions of the secretaries. How the electoral committee and list committee was established was the complete removal of the secretariat. Its operation and even the emphasis of excluding secretaries when in all other elections we have run on the basis that the secretary assumes the electoral chair of the list committee as the only full time staff,” they added.
The fourth provincial secretary said that although they think that some committees set up by the NWC may be redundant, they did not believe this was done to promote factional lines.
Some NEC members aligned to suspended ANC secretary general Ace Magashule have questioned the intent of the NWC populated by Ramaphosa allies in changing committees close to the elective conference.
But those aligned to Ramaphosa have justified this arguing that outsiders would not be bogged down by factional battles in attending to wayward party leaders.
“I’ve always agitated for a view that leaders are not only those who are elected in structures, leaders are those who have been in the organisation providing skills and adding value. We need to say those elected should constitute a team together with any other member that can bring skills. The disciplinary committee [DC] shouldnt necessary be constituted by NEC members, it should be an inclusive process. If it’s just NEC members, it means we are appointing ourselves to guard and discipline ourselves. In a paralysed factional environment, the DC is already compromised in its integrity by virtue of having only members of the NEC. I’m not opposed to bringing people from outside with experience who have the best interest of the party,” they said.
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