Eastern Cape input boosts Cyril supporters

In Nasrec, Johannesburg

The Eastern Cape ANC flexed its muscles at the party’s national policy conference in Nasrec at the weekend with an eye to destabilising the pro-Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma bloc.

Deputy provincial chairman Sakhumzi Somyo challenged a motion moved by Mpumalanga’s top five who wanted to prevent ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe from tabling his diagnostic report on the state of the party.

The move to silence Mantashe was supported by KwaZulu-Natal chairman Sihle Zikalala, a staunch supporter of the Dlamani-Zuma campaign.

The Dispatch can reveal today that thanks to behind-closed-doors meetings held between “strategic” pro-Cyril Ramaphosa provincial leaders held days before the Friday afternoon meeting, Mantashe was able to table his report.

Eastern Cape provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane, Limpopo chairman Stan Mathabatha and Gauteng’s chair Paul Mashatile then roped in Mpumalanga chair David Mabuza and together they pushed for the report to be tabled.

It was Mabuza’s about-turn that led to the withdrawal of Mpumalanga’s push to have Mantashe’s damning report held back.

The report, delivered at the conference on Friday, confirms that factionalism, vote buying, and perceptions of state capture eating away at the ANC all exist.

This is the report in which Mantashe lashes out at “sole protectors of the president who feel justified when making reckless statements in defence of the president”, saying such statements “hurt” the party so much that there are now those who publicly threaten to support the no confidence vote against Zuma and the “Zuma must fall” movement.

OR Tambo regional secretary Lulama Ngcukaitobi, who represents the biggest ANC region in the EC and the second largest in the country, said yesterday that Somyo’s objection to the Mpumalanga motion would not have survived were it not for DD’s (as Mabuza is affectionately known) “leadership”.

Ngcukaitobi said the provinces had to decide whether they wanted to hear the reasons the ANC was losing support. As the Eastern Cape – the only province to have convened a consultative conference – its delegates had agreed before the conference that Mantashe’s report had to be tabled.

“The Eastern Cape championed the motion of the tabling of the diagnostic report in line with its attitude that an in-depth analysis of the problem, putting solutions to them, can only emanate from diagnosing the ailments and sickness within the ANC.

“It is important to commend the leadership approach of comrade DD Mabuza for withdrawing the earlier motion by the Mpumalanga province, which paved the way for the tabling of the motion,” said Ngcukaitobi.

At least three senior ANC leaders close to the developments have confirmed that this was confirmation that Mabuza “was no more part of the Premier League as earlier suggested”.

The “Premier League” is the group led by North West’s Supra Muhumapelo and Free State’s Ace Magashule, known to be the brains behind the Dlamini-Zuma campaign.

The ANC Youth League national executive committee also endorses Dlamini-Zuma, and had earlier fielded Mabuza as her deputy president.

But the youth wing’s leaked draft press statement, which circulated yesterday, confirmed that since Mabuza’s decision to support the Eastern Cape’s motion for the diagnostic report to be tabled, they would now replace him with Muhumapelo as their candidate for deputy president in December.

The Eastern Cape has been the springboard of the Cyril Ramaphosa campaign, and Mabuza’s about-turn at the meeting in view of more than 4000 ANC delegates at the conference “confirms one other thing – that he is the kingmaker towards the December conference”.

“DD tried to talk sense to the Premier League…but they ignored him at their own peril. The CR17 grouping capitalised on that,” he added.

The two presidential hopefuls have divided key provinces into two camps. On one side is KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Free State, while on the other is the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo.

“If you have these three provinces, forget Northern Cape and Western Cape because they are too small – you will need a united province such as Mpumalanga to win any conference.

“What the Eastern Cape did at that conference was to say, you ignore DD at your own peril,” said another source. — zineg@dispatch.co.za/ zingisam@dispatch.co.za