Cyril rushes from KZN to read Supra the riot act

President Cyril Ramaphosa was heading from one political flashpoint to another last night as he flew from KwaZulu-Natal to North West to deal with Supra Mahumapelo – and to scold his provincial executive committee (PEC).

Ramaphosa was expected to read the riot act to Mahumapelo and the PEC before he reversed the premier’s unconstitutional decision to appoint finance MEC Wendy Nelson as premier. He was to remove Nelson and replace her with struggle veteran and former public works MEC Zakes Tolo.

Tolo is favoured by ANC allies such as the South African Communist Party (SACP), trade union federation Cosatu and South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), and structures such as the ANC Veteran’s league and the Progressive Youth Alliance.

Although it was said some members in the ANC PEC continued to stand by Mahumapelo and were prepared to go down with him, others have broken ranks to support his ousting.

Last Wednesday, the PEC defied an instruction from Luthuli House by summoning Mahumapelo and rejecting his resignation on the grounds that he did not inform them about it. Instead, it asked him to rather go on leave of absence, a move that was considered an utter defiance of the party leadership.

An ANC source in the province yesterday said Ramaphosa was angered by Mahumapelo’s decision to appoint Nelson as premier, seeing it as both defiance and an unconstitutional move. The constitution only allowed the premier to appoint an acting premier when he was abroad.

The PEC decision was seen as completely disrespecting the ANC authority, which wanted to stabilise the political environment in North West after public protests called for Mahumapelo’s resignation, and for better service delivery.

However, it has emerged that Mahumapelo actually reneged on his promise to resign because his close ally, OJ Tselapedi, whom he wanted as his replacement as premier, was rejected by Luthuli House.

Instead, Ramaphosa and the national working committee (NWC) wanted Tolo after being convinced by Mahumapelo’s opponents in SACP, Cosatu and Sanco, and some PEC members.

The source said: “Wendy Nelson was supposed to be a temporary appointment because Supra wanted Tselapedi, that is why he rushed a supplementary list of candidates to the IEC [Independent Electoral Commission] and the legislature, with Tselapedi’s name on top.

“President Ramaphosa initially agreed for Tselapedi but changed his mind after he was approached and told that an appointment of Tselapedi is the same as retaining Supra, because they are one and the same. He would be making a big mistake.”

Ramaphosa had some respect for Tselapedi, who is a former education MEC, for his organisational work when Ramaphosa was still ANC secretary-general.

Ramaphosa regarded Tselapedi as nonfactional because he was a pastor and, therefore, fitted into the president’s narrative of party unity.

However, Tselapedi and Tolo came a long way together in the struggle. When Tselapedi was elected as ANC Western Transvaal chairperson in the ’90s, Tolo was his deputy. Both also attended Turfloop University in the then Northern Transvaal, alongside the late student activist, Onkgopotse Tiro, in the ’70s.

Ramaphosa was last night expected to meet Mahumapelo and the provincial leadership to express his disappointment at his failure to resign and his unconstitutional appointment of Nelson as premier.

At the gathering, Mahumapelo was to be told to step down while the PEC was expected to get a strong scolding for ill-discipline and bad behaviour in defending Mahumapelo.

The source said, “The report before the NWC about the PEC is very negative. The president was also very angry about what Supra did to appoint a premier. Mahumapelo and his PEC would be told to change their legislature supplementary list and put Tolo on top as he will be the premier.”

Ramaphosa was expected to announce Tolo’s appointment last night or today, while Nelson would revert to MEC for finance.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

Also read: Supra declares war on his enemies

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.