ANC Tshwane regional chair Kgosi Maepa rejected as mayoral candidate

While the ANC Gauteng provincial executive committee (PEC) does not want to reveal names of possible mayoral candidates in the province, insiders within the Tshwane regional executive committee (REC) say their chairperson Kgosi Maepa did not make the cut.

The ANC in Tshwane has apparently chucked out Maepa as a possible mayoral candidate, after he failed to make it into the top three nominees elected by the REC.

According to sources in the REC, Maepa received the lowest number of votes.

“He was number six out of six nominees,” said a member who wished to remain anonymous.

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Instead, the first option was REC member and former deputy city manager Frans Boshielo, followed by Tshwane ANC treasurer and member of Parliament (MP) Simphiwe Mbatha and Tshwane ANC women’s caucus member Rebecca Morudu.

Mbatha’s nomination was, however, contested at a PEC meeting on Monday night.

“They have ordered a rerun for the REC meeting on [Tuesday], citing that Simphiwe Mbatha is an MP and therefore ineligible for nomination for the position of executive mayor. Fact is, she is eligible. The guidelines are clear.”

“Yesterday, we had another sitting to nominate a replacement for Simphiwe. We nominated Mantladi Nkadimeng. Maepa and his crew didn’t pitch. The three candidates are now Frans Boshielo, Mantladi Nkadimeng and Rebecca Morudu,” said the source.

Despite Nkadimeng not being an REC member and just an ANC member in ward 55, he apparently had met the requirements. 

Maepa, meanwhile, has remained mum and has ignored numerous attempts to reach him this week.

Party members have been unhappy with him for a while, saying he made unilateral decisions and also once disputed his previous employment at the FW De Klerk Foundation.

“He is not a team player and very arrogant,” an REC insider told The Citizen. Once the announcement was made, the insider said Maepa, however, seemed to humbly accepted defeat.

The PEC refused to confirm the names of nominees. This could only be revealed once vetting processes have been finalised ahead of interviews, spokesperson Bones Modise said.

Asked whether Maepa was not being considered, Modise said: “I can’t confirm those things. I can’t. Before they are even subjected to interviews, there is another process to undergo of criminal records, vetting and so forth. Once that is done, then I can come to you and say ‘these are the names that are going to be subject to an interview’… I am trying to avoid mentioning people’s names because of these processes we are doing,” said Modise.

The process he speaks of includes receiving the three nominees in order of preference and priority. Vetting processes, including confirming criminal records and qualifications, will take place before the candidates are interviewed.

“When all of that is concluded, the interview panel will present a report saying which are the best performing candidates out of the three and which candidates did not meet requirements.

Once the report is released, the ANC, through its provincial secretariat office, will then convene an extended PEC meeting and alliance partners will also sit in that meeting, to consider the report and adopt it or make amendments to the final report.

“It is only then that the ANC will have a mayoral candidate and only then will the ANC be able to say that a particular individual is the candidate of a particular metro,” Modise explained.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za