Ramaphosa’s power grip suffers another blow

Cyril Ramaphosa has suffered a significant political setback after the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) has allowed an illegally and unconstitutionally elected provincial executive committee (PEC) in the Free State to continue.

The Free State is not the only province where Ramaphosa’s grip on power seems weak – he was forced to go for a compromise candidate, Job Mokgoro, to replace Supra Mahumapelo as premier in North West.

And in KwaZulu-Natal, members openly and vocally support former president Jacob Zuma, even in Ramaphosa’s presence.

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Cape, Zuma supporters are continuing to challenge the legitimacy of the Ramphosa-supporting PEC.

The decision to continue with a Free State PEC that is loyal to ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule – and supported him when he was Free State premier – was made despite the vociferous protests of disgruntled ANC members in the province.

The Free State decision could severely erode Ramaphosa’s power as an ANC leader. The decision also shows the power of Magashule and others within the faction who remain loyal to Zuma, and shows that this faction believes it can cling on to power or even oust Ramaphosa later.

Currently, Ramaphosa is hampered in implementing his personal vision for unity and anticorruption because he has to rely on consensus being reached with his former opponents in the NEC.

While knowing that the recently elected PEC in the Free State is dominated by Zuma supporters and lackeys of Magashule, Ramaphosa has still been been forced to accept the divided NEC’s decision that the PEC must stay.

While the dissenting members have left a space open for dialogue to find a political solution to the impasse, they have also vowed to use various means to fight against what they claim is an unlawful PEC.

Some members have approached the Free State High Court for an order to declare the PEC election and decisions taken during the May 2018 provincial conference unlawful and unconstitutional. They say the conference was in violation of the court order granted on November 29, 2017.

The four applicants – Matshepo Ramakatsa, Lebeko Maile, Themba Mvandaba and Shashapa Joshua Motaung – are all ANC members in good standing. They come from branches in the regions Xhariep, Lejweleputswa, and Mangaung.

Statements had been made by several other ANC branch members who argue that no audits or branch general meetings (BGM) were held in the 28 branches before the May provincial conference as stipulated, and that the ANC had been ordered by the court to rerun the BGMs.

The lawyer representing the four, Hano Bekker, told The Citizen the matter was filed in court last Thursday. He said Ramakatsa and her fellow applicants believed that the conference and the PEC election were in contempt of court orders granted on November 2017 and December 19, 2017.

The case has been set down for an urgent hearing on July 9 in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein. Bekker said the court orders from 2017 specifically stated that the specified branch elections needed to be rerun prior to the provincial conference being held.

“The provincial task team (PTT) then elected to go ahead with the provincial conference, based on a provision in the ANC constitution which states that if 70% of the branches are in good standing they be allowed to proceed with a provincial conference.”

Bekker said this was, however, not in accordance with what the court had ruled and that the PTT’s interpretation was a direct violation of the court orders and therefore in contempt of court.

The conference was held without the branch audits having been done. The last prior audit was held during April 2017.

The ANC constitution states that the audits at the time of conference cannot be older than nine months. The current audits are more than 13 months old and have therefore lapsed, which means the situation is contrary to the ANC constitution, Bekker said.

He said his clients asked that the May conference be set aside and that all its decisions, including the election of the provincial executive committee, be nullified.

The members are dissenting after Luthuli House announced its recognition of the controversial PEC. They have accused some senior officials at the party headquarters, including Magashule, of distorting the NEC decision on the issue to suit their own political agenda.

Ike Moroe, on behalf of the disgruntled members, said the NEC in fact had recommended that the ANC Free State deployees should facilitate a dialogue between the two sides with a view to achieve an integrated PEC.

The process should also apply to the local government where mayors and councillors should be represented in an integrated manner.

Attempts to contact ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe failed yesterday.

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