President Cyril Ramaphosa will have one more ally at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters, with incoming treasurer general Gwen Ramokgopa set to stay put on a full-time basis following a failed push for the position to be part-time.
In an interview with Mail & Guardian, newly elected deputy president Paul Mashatile confirmed that the issue over the position had been shelved after the ANC’s elective conference failed to meet a quorum for constitutional amendments.
For the ANC to change the position from full-time to part-time would require two-thirds majority of its conference delegates.
“We realised that we didn’t have the quorum to change the constitution,” Mashatile said on Saturday, in Mangaung, on the sidelines of the ANC’s weekend celebrations to mark its January 8 anniversary.
“What was changed in the ANC constitution in Nasrec is basically to increase the officials to seven members in the top six by having a second deputy secretary general, but other things like the treasurer general were not changed.”
Shortly after the previous elective conference in 2017, Ramaphosa pulled most of his lieutenants from Luthuli House, appointing them to his cabinet.
This was considered a major own goal by the party president as then-secretary general Ace Magashule took control of the ANC’s headquarters by appointing some of Ramaphosa’s detractors that had lost out on cabinet positions.
These included Malusi Gigaba, Nomvula Mokonyane, Bathabile Dlamini and Carl Niehaus.
While Ramokgopa is an essential ally at Luthuli House, the president will still need reinforcements to maintain control.
Mashatile, who is poised to become the deputy president of the country, said the party leadership would only discuss a reconfigured cabinet after its lekgotla.
Speculation of a possible reshuffle and the shrinking of Ramaphosa’s bloated cabinet was bolstered by his overwhelming victory at the December conference.
“We are going to a lekgotla, beyond January 8, on the 16th the ANC will meet where we will look at the programmes for the year and look at medium programmes long term. Once we have adopted the programmes, the government goes to a lekgotla where they look at the issues and priorities for the year in preparation for the state of the nation,” Mashatile said.
“It’s only after those processes that the president will start looking at the reconfiguration because some other comrades will have to resign. For example, comrade Fikile Mbalula at some point will have to come permanently to Luthuli House, so it means there will have to be a replacement for his position, but not now.
“For now, the priority is to prepare for the lekgotla, let’s look at programmes because once we know the projects that are a priority, the president will have to appoint those he thinks are capable of filling those positions.”
The state of Mangaung
The state of the Mangaung metro came under the spotlight during Mashatile’s blitz to promote the ruling party’s birthday celebrations.
Pothole-riddled roads, sewer spillage and the dilapidated state of the metro are some of the challenges that await the new ANC leadership.
Mashatile, who spoke briefly with the residents, said the ANC would pay close attention to the situation in the months ahead, adding that the key to this would be the provincial conference set to take place in March to elect new party leaders who will inevitably lead the provincial government.
But while Mashatile made bold promises, very few residents stood to listen, signalling that the party has lost favour with the community.
One community member who spoke briefly to the ANC deputy president said she was frustrated with the slow pace of service delivery in the metro, adding that the ANC was inward-looking and focused on its own internal factional battles.
In response, Mashatile said the newly elected ANC leadership aimed to connect with the community.
“We have been sending a lot of teams to the Free State and we are quite aware of the challenges of the province, but we deliberately came here for January 8. We plan to engage with the ANC structures to create a united leadership that will pull the metro together,” he said.
“That is why we are mobilising them to come together to have a conference so that in the next two months they can elect a strong provincial executive committee that will help fix the challenges the people are facing.”
