ANC Limpopo chairperson Stan Mathabatha and his deputy Florence Radzilani. Photo: Supplied
Limpopo ANC deputy chairperson Florence Radzilani acted on her own and didn’t have the mandate to switch support and back Zweli Mkhize at the 55th national elective conference.
This is according to provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe.
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Speaking on the sidelines of the conference on Monday, Madadzhe said he couldn’t keep quiet and had to issue a statement on Sunday to quell the apparent confusion.
He said although Radzilani had a right to be lobbied and lobby others from the province, her pronouncements that provincial leaders decided to dump Ramaphosa for Mkhize were not true.
“My duty as the provincial secretary is to protect and defend the decisions of the PEC [provincial executive committee]. I would be judged harshly by the structures if I keep quiet when people contradict decisions. I would be failing in my duty.
“Decisions of an ANC structure are not about you, but the organisation. If she said it was the PEC decision, then she is wrong because the PEC didn’t change its stance. It decided a long time ago to support Ramaphosa for a second term,” said Madadzhe.
Ramaphosa was re-elected president after receiving 2 476 votes. Mkhize garnered 1 897 votes.
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Videos circulating on WhatsApp groups showed Radzilani addressing Limpopo delegates, informing them that Mkhize was their new candidate, and no longer Ramaphosa.
Other video clips showed Limpopo provincial chairperson Stan Mathabatha addressing KwaZulu-Natal candidates, pledging his support to Mkhize.
She later told Newzroom Afrika that Limpopo provincial and regional structures felt rejected by the Ramaphosa lobby group because Mathabatha was not on the Ramaphosa slate and thus, they had to talk to other provinces.
Limpopo had endorsed Ramaphosa, Paul Mashatile as his deputy, Mathabatha as chairperson and Nomvula Mokonyane as deputy secretary-general.
READ MORE: ANC55: Mighty KwaZulu-Natal the biggest loser at ANC conference
Meanwhile, Vhembe regional chairperson Tshitereke Matibe on Sunday said Limpopo had been behind Ramaphosa, and that he was happy with the conference outcome.
“It was not the entire PEC that swayed the support, it was just individuals because it wasn’t the PEC decision. Because this is a free and democratic process, we allowed them to do what they wanted to do. We however didn’t abandon the branches’ decisions to back Ramaphosa,” said Matibe.
When asked who he voted for, Matibe said a secret ballot meant his “choice of leadership remained a secret.”
Mathabatha lost the chairperson position to Gwede Mantashe.
Corruption-accused Radzilani hails from Vhembe and is a former mayor of the Vhembe Municipality. She landed in hot water after illegally depositing R300 million in municipal funds into the now-defunct VBS Bank.
Along with former provincial ANC treasurer Danny Masiza, Radzilani was implicated in the R2 billion VBS graft and was fingered in The Great Bank Heist report commissioned by the SA Reserve Bank.
According to the VBS report, she was allegedly given R300 000 bribe for depositing municipal funds. She was said to have “cried” that juniors were “given R1.5 million but her share was only R300 000.”
Msiza was described in the report as the “fixer” who collected commissions from VBS.
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