Ramaphosa’s brother-in-law seen as ‘incorruptible’, likely to stop gravy train in Bojanala district

There are alleged attempts by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s adversaries to prevent his brother-in-law from assuming his place as an ANC proportional representation (PR) councillor in the Bojanala district municipality, although his time has come.

While ANC veteran and highly experienced councillor Raymond Motsepe was number 18 on the ANC PR candidates’ list and was the next individual due to fill a vacancy in the municipality, some senior leaders in North West are allegedly trying to stop him from filling the position.

PEC wants to revise PR list

The ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) allegedly wants to revise the PR list to either exclude Motsepe or put him far down the list, which would be submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

Motsepe is allegedly seen as a threat by some, who believe his strong anti-corruption stand as former mayor of Madibeng local municipality and Bojanala posed a serious problem for them to access state resources. He is seen as incorruptible and likely to stop the gravy train in the district.

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N12 faction accused of frustrating Motsepe

ANC members at the municipalities have accused the PEC – or the N12 faction, as they are called – of trying to frustrate Motsepe’s rise because he is related to Ramaphosa.

Motsepe – who is the brother of business tycoon Patrice Motsepe, businesswoman Bridget Motsepe-Radebe and the first lady, Dr Tshepo Motsepe-Ramaphosa, – topped the original ANC PR list but was number 18 on the final list submitted to the IEC before the November 2021 municipal polls.

He is a member of the North West ANC Veterans’ League and comes from the Bakgatla ba Mmakau royal family.

‘Great leadership’

ANC members from Madibeng, who requested anonymity, praised him for great leadership in the ANC and the local government level where he led. They said he was the last mayor of Madibeng to receive a clean audit from the auditor-general and under him the municipality won several Vuna Awards for performance excellence. He was credited for the successful hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup by the Rustenburg local organising committee, of which he was a member.

“The N12 see him as a Ramaphosa man due to obvious reasons of family relationship. Now the N12 and interim regional committee of ANC want to remove his name from the list and replace it with those who are close to them, or those who will take instructions from them.”

ANC provincial spokesperson Tumelo Maruping said the provincial working committee would meet today “to reflect on many issues”, including the performance of municipalities.

“The ANC can replenish, rearrange its lists at any given time depending on the type of capacity needed for a deployment,” Maruping said.