Bleak future for ANC rebels? Dlamini-Zuma, Sisulu, Mkhize could be in trouble

A bleak political future, with a strong likelihood of being recalled from parliament is how dim prospects for veteran ANC national executive (NEC) members Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Lindiwe Sisulu and Dr Zweli Mkhize have become, with chances of either being voted party president this weekend, appearing slim.

Against the party line

While Dlamini-Zuma – along with MPs Mervyn Dirks and Supra Mahumapelo – this week broke ranks with the ANC parliamentary caucus position by voting to endorse the Section 89 independent panel recommendation for a committee to consider President Cyril Ramaphosa’s impeachment process over Phala Phala, Sisulu and Mkhize failed to vote.

Sisulu explained that after going to “check on an urgent WhatsApp message outside”, doors were closed when she tried to re-enter the house in parliament.

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According to political experts Ongama Mtimka and Roland Henwood, known Ramaphosa detractors were unlikely to remain in parliament or occupy Cabinet positions after the watershed five-day ANC national elective conference, beginning tomorrow in Nasrec, south of Johannesburg.

“Leaders of the ANC who voted against the party line in parliament may have done well in terms of doing so in line with their comrades – being courageous and fighting against the Cyril Ramaphosa camp.

“What they are not aware of is that they have created reasonable grounds for them to be recalled from parliament next year, in an event of Ramaphosa emerging victorious at the ANC conference.”

Political futures of Ramaphosa’s detractors

Mtimka described Sisulu’s campaign for the ANC presidency as “very courageous and bold, even if I did not agree with the style that she used – when scapegoating the constitution”.

He added: “She is one woman candidate who will go down in history as a person who refused to allow her fate to depend on men.

“Unfortunately, the politics of the ANC are patriarchal and her campaign did not gain much ground, compared to Mkhize’s, although his started later than hers.

Henwood said Dlamini-Zuma may be on the way out after a very long stint in Cabinet.

“This may be influenced by the out outcome of the ANC national elective conference. Whether the same is bound to apply Sisulu, depends on ANC internal politics.

“Mkhize seems to have little hope of winning the leadership contest, with his future to be determined by institutions such as the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] and the SIU [Special Investigating Unit].”

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‘It all started when we discussed Phala Phala’

Speaking during a Press Club SA interview with Professor Sipho Seepe, Sisulu said: “We learn as we go along and try to ensure that we keep some kind of cohesion within the ANC.

“But we have had people who have had the courage to say: ‘I will not tolerate this’ – one of them being MP Mervyn Dirks. Before he could he could do anything, he was thrown out of parliament.”

She said SA needed a strong integrity committee that operates on a daily basis – not one “we go to, only when we have a problem”.

She added: “I brought an article here about the judiciary and it caused such a stir – I was shocked, because I was expressing myself and the outrage from the ANC was insane. It is not the same outrage they are showing towards Phala Phala.”

On the background behind the Phala Phala fallout, said Sisulu: “It all started when we discussed Phala Phala in the NEC.

“In the NEC, Nkosazana, myself and Zweli, were aggrieved about the manner in which ANC chair Gwede Mantashe dealt with the matter. It became quite clear to us that his sole purpose was to protect President Ramaphosa at all costs.

“It was clear to us that there was an attempt to cushion the impact of that report. We were told that anybody who did not vote outside a party line would be thrown out of the job. Nobody owns the ANC and nobody has a right to take a decision like that.”

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