Deputy President David Mabuza’s bid to remain in the ANC’s top six has suffered a major blow as the party prepares for its elective conference in December.
Yesterday, Mabuza’s allies in Mpumalanga failed to win key positions in the leadership of the party during the elective conference, which saw President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ally Mandla Ndlovu crowned chairperson of the province, which is key in determining the organisation at a national level.
In the run-up to the ANC national conference in 2017, the province became a king-maker by catapulting Ramaphosa to the helm of the organisation and became the springboard for Mabuza to ascend to the deputy presidency.
However, Mabuza’s key ally, Lucky Ndinisa, lost after amassing 278 votes against Ndlovu’s 440.
Ndlovu was elected along with Speedy Mashilo as his deputy and murder-accused Mandla Msibi as treasurer.
Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s ally, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, emerged as a deputy provincial secretary, though she had been acting secretary for months. Her election as a deputy means the so-called radical economic transformation faction does not have full control of the chairmanship and the secretariat, two crucial positions for the national conference
Muzi Chirwa, another Ramaphosa backer, was elected provincial secretary, giving the so-called CR22 campaign a sweeping victory.
Mpumalanga premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane failed to amass enough votes to contest for the position of chairperson, prompting speculation that she was likely to be recalled as premier.
Ndlovu dismissed the talks as “anti-ANC”. “The centre is the ANC, we can’t just from a conference purge or recall people. That will not happen,” he said.
He told Sunday World the focus was now on uniting the organisation and focusing on renewal.
“We are going to dissolve all the lobbying teams and have one team that will focus on taking the ANC in Mpumalanga forward.”
Mpumalanga was the first of the nine ANC provinces to hold its conference.
In the Eastern Cape, the conference of the Chris Hani region, one of the big regions in the province, got off to a slow start following an appeal by a group of 23 party members who lost their attempt to interdict the regional conference. Their appeal was dismissed, with the court saying it was an unacceptable way of resolving ANC issues.
Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said the Eastern Cape carried the hopes of the party in 2024.
Motsoaledi was addressing Chris Hani delegates in his capacity as an NEC member and Eastern Cape convener.
He said provinces such as Eastern Cape, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga have been the anchors of the party in times of election, but the decline of the party’s election fortunes in those provinces shows there’s a problem. “Our biggest hope for 2024 is with you here in the Eastern Cape. Don’t use Chris Hani’s name in vain. Chris Hani would never endorse corruption and would never steal from the people.”
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