Divided Limpopo ANC wants Zuma to fire Premier Mathabatha

As the ANC’s leadership race heats up, party leaders in Limpopo are reportedly calling for a motion of no confidence against Premier Stanley Mathabatha, who has been linked to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The Sowetan reported on Monday that it emerged at the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting two weeks ago in Polokwane that some members of the PEC allegedly met with President Jacob Zuma earlier this year at his Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal, and his Pretoria official residence, Mahlamba Ndlopfu, to ask him to fire Mathabatha.

The ANC’s provincial secretary Nocks Seabi was apparently behind calls for the premier’s recall from office. He apparently backs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to be elected as the ruling party’s next president, while Mathabatha supports Ramaphosa.

The party’s deployees to Limpopo, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, and the deputy minister of defense Kebby Maphatsoe, are said to have attended the PEC meeting, according to the report.

The ANC Youth League in the province had previously been leading calls for Mathabatha’s removal for some time, but the young lions reportedly made a U-turn at the PEC meeting, saying there was no longer hostility between them and Mathabatha.

Mathabatha’s opponents are said to be building their case for his removal by labelling him as a “weak” leader and arguing that there is no service delivery in Limpopo, while his supporters have highlighted that the ANC in the province could not afford to be divided over the issue.

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