ANC MP’s Ramaphosa request could pit factions against each other at NEC meeting – analyst

ANC MP Mervyn Dirks’ request that President Cyril Ramaphosa appear and answer in Parliament could further create more rift between factions at the ANC NEC meeting.

The ANC will virtually hold its NEC meeting on Thursday and Friday. The meeting will be followed by its NEC Lekgotla starting on Saturday until Sunday.

It will be a busy year for the governing party as it prepares to hold an elective conference in December, while some provinces such as Gauteng and Mpumalanga get ready to also elect leaders. Elective conferences for the ANC’s alliance partners – the SACP and Cosatu – are scheduled to take place in the coming months as well.

Political analyst Ongama Mtimka said although Dirks’ request asking Ramaphosa to appear before the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) should be applauded in a constitutional democracy and encouraged, the issue could pit NEC members along factional lines. The RET faction, to which Dirks belongs, could fight as it pushes from all fronts to weaken Ramaphosa’s support.

“That process is influenced by the party, although it is a Parliament process. If further details come out that people used public funds as alluded in that leaked audio and that Ramaphosa knew, the RET faction will gain. It’s a factional war that is being fought on all fronts, including use of gorilla tactics,” Mtimka said.

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With calls mounting that Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu be axed following her blasting of the country’s judiciary, internal battles have since shifted gear as the so-called RET (radical economic transformation) faction came out in support of the embattled minister. Ramaphosa’s faction that includes Justice Minister Ronald Lamola , fired back at Sisulu in open responses. The public spats between the Cabinet ministers are seen by many as jostling for support ahead of the December conference.

Dirk’s insistence that Ramaphosa personally answer to the misappropriation of public funds by some in the party as alleged, was met with resistance from ANC chief whip Pammy Majodina. Majodina has reportedly demanded that Dirks withdraw the letter he wrote to Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa.

Mtimka added that, among the many issues facing the NEC, the ANC is further grappling with the framework for campaigning for office, which is still non-existent in the party in another elective year.

“That is some sort of a dark room for the party. Will the party re-assert its approach on campaigning for office and come out with a concrete framework that binds members to follow? And what will that framework be?”

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