Kiviet saves face as speaker while party ‘stabiliser’ takes helm.
THE Eastern Cape, one of three provinces to get a new premier, will see its former finance MEC Phumulo Masualle being sworn in today.
While Masualle’s appointment did not come as a surprise, it was the decision to appoint Kiviet as speaker that caught people’s attention.
Kiviet took a risk two months ago when she chose to remain in the province after her name appeared in both the list to national parliament and the one to Bhisho.
Had she been sent back to the legislature as a backbencher, she would have made history by becoming the first to move from the highest office to an ordinary member of the provincial legislature.
All the other former Eastern Cape premiers moved to parliament immediately after serving their terms.
Political analyst Dr Somadoda Fikeni said the NEC’s decision to put Masualle in as premier was a vote of confidence in his leadership as chairman.
“The party may be rewarding Phumulo for having stabilised the ANC, which was very factional, to the point where now the ANC has begun to regain its strength in the province, its last electoral performance,” said Fikeni.
He said it was important for the ANC, looking towards the 2016 local government elections, to avoid the “fragmentation” that had happened in Gauteng and North West, where the provincial party chairs were overlooked for the premiership.
“When the two are different, that creates two centres of power. And that, as you have seen in the North West and Gauteng, creates fragmentation that ultimately weakens the party,” he said.
Fikeni commended Kiviet for playing her game well, in choosing the province rather than national parliament.
“There was no guarantee that if she went to national, she would have got senior deployment,” he said, adding that Kiviet’s record as a speaker worked in her favour.
Fikeni challenged Masualle to recommend a replacement for Nelson Mandela Metro mayor Ben Fihla, and find a “more energetic” candidate to change the fortunes of the ANC ahead of 2016 against the danger of the DA would take over and winning its second metro.
He said other priorities would hopefully be to push the Presidency and ministers concerned to deliver on their commitments on the Umzimvubu dam project, and on the development of Coega and the East London Industrial Development Zone, starting as soon as July. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
REPRIEVE AND REWARD
THE Eastern Cape, one of three provinces to get a new premier, will see its former finance MEC Phumulo Masualle being sworn in today.
While Masualle’s appointment did not come as a surprise, it was the decision to appoint Kiviet as speaker that caught people’s attention.
Kiviet took a risk two months ago when she chose to remain in the province after her name appeared in both the list to national parliament and the one to Bhisho.
Had she been sent back to the legislature as a backbencher, she would have made history by becoming the first to move from the highest office to an ordinary member of the provincial legislature.
All the other former Eastern Cape premiers moved to parliament immediately after serving their terms.
Political analyst Dr Somadoda Fikeni said the NEC’s decision to put Masualle in as premier was a vote of confidence in his leadership as chairman.
“The party may be rewarding Phumulo for having stabilised the ANC, which was very factional, to the point where now the ANC has begun to regain its strength in the province, its last electoral performance,” said Fikeni.
He said it was important for the ANC, looking towards the 2016 local government elections, to avoid the “fragmentation” that had happened in Gauteng and North West, where the provincial party chairs were overlooked for the premiership.
“When the two are different, that creates two centres of power. And that, as you have seen in the North West and Gauteng, creates fragmentation that ultimately weakens the party,” he said.
Fikeni commended Kiviet for playing her game well, in choosing the province rather than national parliament.
“There was no guarantee that if she went to national, she would have got senior deployment,” he said, adding that Kiviet’s record as a speaker worked in her favour.
Fikeni challenged Masualle to recommend a replacement for Nelson Mandela Metro mayor Ben Fihla, and find a “more energetic” candidate to change the fortunes of the ANC ahead of 2016 against the danger of the DA would take over and winning its second metro.
He said other priorities would hopefully be to push the Presidency and ministers concerned to deliver on their commitments on the Umzimvubu dam project, and on the development of Coega and the East London Industrial Development Zone, starting as soon as July. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
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