Defence Minister Thandi Modise’s presidential campaign failed to get off the ground because she was reluctant to nail her colours to the mast regarding her ambition to march to the Union Buildings.
Her failure to become President Cyril Ramaphosa’s deputy has now come back to bite her.
All Modise had to do at the ANC national elective conference in Nasrec last December was to raise her hand, after Ramaphosa allegedly whispered that he would give his blessings if she launched a campaign for the ANC deputy presidency.
But unlike Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi or former tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who were bold in their campaigns, Modise was reluctant as she preferred that ANC branches sponsor her name from the ground up.
Two versions doing the rounds in ANC circles claim that Ramaphosa would have preferred to be succeeded by a woman as part of the legacy he wanted to leave behind. And Modise was the chosen one.
This was confirmed by multiple sources within the governing party and the government.
A government official, who did not want to be named, said Ramaphosa wanted to leave the ANC with a pool of women empowered enough and ready to contest even for the party’s highest office. “Even when his ministers appoint board members he would always ask for the list of those who are women and under 40 years old,” said the official.
The official’s version was corroborated by an ANC member, who added Ramaphosa had indeed placed his bet on two women to deputise for him.
“CR (Ramaphosa) wanted Mmamoloko or Thandi as deputy,” said the person, but some in his camp were pushing for Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane and justice and correctional services minister Ronald Lamola. “But in his view, Mmamoloko or Thandi would have made more sense,” said the member.
“Unfortunately for Thandi, she was only nominated by the Veterans League, while Kubayi’s attempt to launch herself failed before it took off.”
Veteran political analysts repeated similar claims in a social media interview but declined to mention the name of the female candidate that Ramaphosa had allegedly put his money on.
For her reluctance to go for the proverbial pot of gold, Modise now found herself with detractors in Ramaphosa’s camp, who would have been worried that he could raise her name as the country’s deputy president instead of ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile.
There had been a strong lobby to frustrate Mashatile’s chances, but those behind it were equally wary that their moves should not unintentionally create fresh hopes for Modise.
“She then became the target of a plot to create friction between her and Ramaphosa,” a close political ally said, adding that “had the plan succeeded, Modise would have been one of the casualties in the recent cabinet reshuffle that saw at least three ministers bite the dust”.
It is alleged Modise did not make her case better, either.
Last month, said the ANC insider, she missed Armed Forces Day in Richard’s Bay, where Ramaphosa was in attendance.
Her detractors, said the insider, pointed to the incident as an example of how she undermined Ramaphosa.
Others said in her defence that Ramaphosa had actually granted her permission to be absent. But even so, the optics did not look rosy since Ramaphosa was Modise’s official guest.
Ahead of that event, said the insider, Modise was in Germany, where she addressed a conference on global security. Instead of returning to South Africa after the conference, she attended another event on military weapons technology in Abu Dhabi.
Unlike Modise, the SANDF chief General Rudzani Maphwanya travelled to SA soon after the German event and thereafter joined Modise in Abu Dhabi. Modise’s spokesperson Cornelius Monama said that with Ramaphosa’s permission, Modise was attending the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which coincided with Armed Forces Day.
Monama said Modise “used the IDEX as an opportunity to meet her counterparts from different countries and to strengthen defence bilateral relations. Ministers of defence and key players in the defence industry across the globe attended IDEX.”
“Working in partnership with other stakeholders, minister Modise is determined to ensure the revival of the South African defence industry, which has a direct impact on the readiness of the SANDF,” he said.
Modise dodged the bullet again when Ramaphosa was allegedly put under pressure to hold her accountable for the Russian warship docking in SA waters in Cape Town on
February 13.
“We expected these stories to come out weeks ago. She has been aware of the plot to try and push for her to be reshuffled,” said a source.
Another allegation was that Modise travelled in the Presidential jet on a trip to Namibia for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Extraordinary Organ Troika Summit held in Windhoek, Namibia, but she flew back commercially.
Ramaphosa, International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor, and the then minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele were part of the trip.
However, Monama said the allegation was factually incorrect. “The minister used a commercial flight to travel to Namibia in order to attend the SADC Extraordinary Organ Troika Summit in Windhoek.”
On the contrary, he said, “the minister came back with the South African delegation led by president Ramaphosa”.
He said the relationship between Ramaphosa and Modise was “cordial, professional, and comradely”.
In December, the secretary of defence Sonto Kudjoe resigned from her post, citing ill health. But her departure was also blamed on Modise, with critics citing “broken-down relations” between the two. The same source said Ramaphosa was even reluctant to accept Kudjoe’s resignation.
But a government insider disagreed. The person would only say that there was some tension between Modise and Kudjoe due to “mistrust”.
Kudjoe arrived in the department of defence under the tenure of former minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, now the Speaker of the National Assembly, whose supporters had previously clashed with Modise in the ANC women’s league ranks.
A person sympathetic to Modise said the seat had also become too hot for Kudjoe because Modise was insisting that “she must act against officials involved in procurement fraud”. Among these alleged shady deals was the purchase of St George hotel and conference centre in Irene for military training purposes, said the person. “She wanted consequences, and it came across like she was putting her under pressure,” said the insider.
Monama said that in her resignation letter, Kudjoe cited health as the reason for her departure. He refused to comment on media reports that Kudjoe had no security clearance and that the State Security Agency, where she previously served as director-general, had opened a police case of fraud against her.
He denied that there were hostile relations between Kudjoe and Modise, adding that Ramaphosa had accepted Kudjoe’s resignation.
“There are currently two vacant senior posts in the department of defence – that of chief financial officer and secretary for defence. The process of placing vacancy adverts in this regard is at an advanced stage,” said Monama.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
