A premature push to position ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile as the party’s next leader has sparked a rift inside his camp, exposing tensions among allies over how, and how soon, to mobilise for the looming succession race.
An unsanctioned “Mashatile for president” campaign, allegedly driven by individuals linked to his office, has triggered internal friction after he was added without his knowledge to a WhatsApp group openly promoting his rise to the ANC presidency, despite a standing national executive committee (NEC) directive banning early campaigning.
The fallout has raised uncomfortable questions about discipline and coordination within Mashatile’s political machinery, with some of his allies warning that premature mobilisation risks complicating his carefully managed path to the top, undermining his image as a rule-abiding contender to succeed President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The messaging group was formed in July 2023 by businessman David Lesiba, owner of Dalema Trading, with the contact number that registered the group linked to the Midrand-based company.
Sunday World understands that Lesiba formed the group in collaboration with individuals in the Presidency.
Fingers have allegedly pointed to Mashatile’s personal assistant, Ephenia Lerutle, and the chief of staff in the deputy president’s office, Mduduzi Mbada, as being behind the formation of the group, which has begun positioning Mashatile for the ANC presidency ahead of the party’s next elective conference.
Sunday World can reveal that both Mbada and Lerutle were members of the WhatsApp group alongside Mashatile.
Mashatile exited the group on January 24. Lerutle left on February 2, followed by Mbada the next day.
Mashatile’s spokesperson and political adviser, Keith Khoza, said he was unaware of any such WhatsApp group or related campaign for the deputy president. “I am not aware of that group; actually, the PM group I know is the one suggested to be of Patrice Motsepe, even though I wouldn’t say it’s his because he hasn’t spoken about it.
“You should note that administrators of these groups do put people’s names up in these groups. That is the trend, so there is a mischievous hand out there creating confusion.
“Remember that there was an NEC decision that there should be no campaigning, and Mr Mashatile, as the deputy president of the ANC, can’t find himself in the space where he could be seen campaigning, as that is against the party decision taken regarding the matter. I can tell you for a fact that the group wasn’t created by anybody the deputy president knows.”
Khoza said Mashatile remains firm about adhering to the NEC directive against premature campaigning.
“On social media, you can only complain to the controllers and report on it. We are going to advise people who were added to that WhatsApp group and aligned to the deputy president to remove themselves.
“We will leave everything to the controllers to deal with the matter.”
Before Lerutle and Mbada exited, Mashatile’s former partner, Norma Mbatha, who had also briefly joined the group, questioned its motives and directly accused officials in the deputy president’s office of being aware of the campaign.
“The ANC deputy president, Paul Mashatile, has spoken openly against such campaigns, yet we continue to see initiatives being run in his name and, more concerning, allegedly through or with the knowledge of his office, his PA and his head of department in the government office,” she wrote.
“The difficulty is, on the one hand, the deputy president distances himself from these campaigns; on the other, the question remains, what then is the true purpose of this group? I am firmly convinced that those behind this group have no genuine interest in him or in protecting his leadership.”
One group member defended the mobilisation, writing, “We know and understand that the campaigns are not yet open, but we can’t sit and watch our movement being sold to billionaires under our watch. We will continue doing service delivery and campaigning for the DP (Mashatile).”
Mbatha said, “I communicated with Paul after realising that he was also in the group, and I asked him if he had joined the WhatsApp group. Paul told me that he was not even aware that he was included in the group, and I advised him to exit the group, and he did, so I left as well,” she said.
Lerutle declined to comment.
Mbada said he played no role in forming the WhatsApp group and did not add Mashatile. He maintained his presence was only to monitor political discourse professionally and insisted Mashatile neither endorses nor participates in unofficial 2027 presidential campaign structures.
