The rejection of the increasingly ostracised David Mabuza for re-election as ANC deputy president has exposed a political fallout with party president Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of the governing party’s elective conference in December.
Sunday World has it on good authority that the Mabuza and Ramaphosa camps have for some time now been treating each other with suspicion, triggered by Mabuza’s behind-the-scenes lobbying to challenge the president for the party’s highest office.
As a result of the alleged fallout, it is believed Mabuza is now readying to challenge the president for the presidential throne of the governing party.
Ramaphosa’s lobbyists, according to party insiders, believe that while Mabuza appears to be pushing a “unity pact” between the two leaders, the deputy president is also allegedly doing some groundwork in some provinces to launch a campaign to unseat the president.
It is believed that the mistrust in the two camps has caused strain in the relationship between the two leaders. The fallout in the presidency came to light as provincial executive committees (PECs) and branches of the ANC across the country started announcing their preferred candidates to take seats in the party’s top six.
Last week, Mabuza’s home province of Mpumalanga dropped a political bombshell when it announced that it had informed him that it would not nominate him for re-election as deputy president. The provincial leadership has put forward national executive committee (NEC) member Ronald Lamola as its candidate for the position.
As ANC branches began nominating leaders this week, it emerged that Ramaphosa and Mabuza have not been drinking from the same cup for a while now. A source close to Mabuza said he felt betrayed by the Ramaphosa camp and was ratcheting up a bid to challenge the president for the throne of the governing party.
“When people said he should challenge for the presidency, he said he was pushing for a unity front. He was saying he wants a unity package,” the source said. The Mabuza camp believes that the deputy president has been supportive of Ramaphosa and had done nothing to outshine the president. “DD’s character has been to support the president,” said a party insider close to Mabuza.
The source referred to a story of how Mabuza, a former premier and ANC chairman in Mpumalanga, fended off attempts by those who wanted him to position himself to contest against Ramaphosa. In June, while addressing people at the funeral of his aunt in Phola near Hazyview in Mpumalanga, Mabuza said he and Ramaphosa “walk together”.
“You flush me, you flush both of us,” he said.
But since then, some of Ramaphosa’s allies – including Lamola and NEC member Nkhensani Kubayi – have been running campaigns to oust Mabuza, a development believed to be one of the factors behind the fractured relations between the two party heavyweights.
The president’s allies believe that Mabuza was already doing work behind Ramaphosa’s back to ascend to the presidency.
“We were expecting that (Mabuza’s) campaign will gain momentum now towards the nominations. We picked up that DD has been doing a lot of groundwork in KwaZulu-Natal. The announcement of [Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and former health minister Zweli Mkhize] as the preferred candidates was a blessing in disguise for us,” a contact in Ramaphosa’s campaign said.
It has also been reported that former president Jacob Zuma told the ANC leadership in KZN to rally behind Dlamini-Zuma,
Mabuza’s supporters believe although the leadership of his home province and others have not yet announced his name, branches will give him enough support to be on the ballot to contest Ramaphosa.
Yesterday the Northern Cape top brass threw him a lifeline by announcing him as one of their deputy president candidates. The province reaffirmed its support for Ramaphosa’s second term and became the first to put Kubayi on the list of leaders it wants to be deputy president. The PEC of the province, which is the smallest in terms of size of membership, also threw its weight behind Ramokgopa and Potgieter to become part of the secretariat.
On Friday, the Gauteng PEC announced treasurer-general Paul Mashatile as its preferred candidate for the deputy president position while also endorsing Ramaphosa for a second term. Gauteng said it will campaign for its former premier Nomvula Mokonyane to become the party’s deputy secretary-general and Limpopo provincial chairperson Stan Mathabatha to become national chairman.
Mathabatha presents a significant threat to current national chairman Gwede Mantashe’s hopes for re-election.
Party insiders say Mantashe’s Eastern Cape stronghold might be punching above its weight in having both provincial premier Oscar Mabuyane and Mantashe on the same slate to contest for top six positions when they both come from the same province.
But Mantashe rubbished those arguments, saying there are no rules around how many top six leaders each province may have.
“When comrade [Jacob] Zuma was the president, comrade Zweli was the TG [treasurer-general]. Where do you get this rule?”
While most provinces – including Northern Cape and North West – have earmarked Ramaphosa for a second term, no one has been punted as secretary-general.
Sunday World understands that there was a discussion – mostly in Ramaphosa’s circles – to push for an expanded secretariat of the organisation to be wholly run by women. There was a suggestion that there should be a constitutional amendment to allow for a second deputy secretary general.
Co-ordinator in the office of the secretary-general, Gwen Ramokgopa, Mokonyane and ANC office manager Febe Potgieter are the leading candidates.
Mabuyane emphasised in an interview with Sunday World on Friday that the organisation’s secretariat should be led by a woman.
“There are many capable women in the ANC who can take up the office of the secretary general not as a DSG, which has always been the case.”
But another NEC member said branches in KZN wanted former provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli to be secretary-general.
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