Hajra Omarjee
16 July 2008
Johannesburg — AS THE African National Congress (ANC) plans an overhaul of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provincial cabinets, the party's Northern Cape and Mpumalanga structures have pushed back their provincial elective conference to get their houses in order.
However, there will be no reprieve for the ANC's Limpopo structure, which will hold its provincial elective conference in Thohoyandou this weekend. In one of the most hotly contested elections, Premier Sello Moloto and the party's provincial secretary, Cassel Mathale, will face off for the position of ANC provincial chairman.
The battle for positions in ANC structures comes just ahead of the party's list conference season, the process that will ultimately decide who the ANC deploys to national and provincial government, Parliament and legislatures after next year's general election.
Although ANC insiders have cited poor performance for the ANC national executive committee's (NEC's) decision to axe Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool and his Eastern Cape counterpart, Nosimo Balindlela, it is understood the move is also tied to next year's ballot.
Sources in Western Cape and Eastern Cape said Monday's meetings between the ANC's national leadership and respective provincial executive committees (PECs) went well .
The frontrunners to replace Balindlela include provincial ANC deputy chairman and economic affairs MEC Mbulelo Sogoni, housing and local government MEC Thoko Xasa, and provincial legislator Gloria Barry. It is believed their names were given to the national executive after PEC members voted for the three candidates . Other candidates originally touted were agriculture MEC Gugile Nkwinti, ANC heavyweight Mcebisi Jonas, and South African Communist Party treasurer Phumulo Masualle.
The ANC's Western Cape PEC is said to have strongly lobbied for finance and tourism MEC Lynn Brown to replace Rasool, but the party's national leadership has made it clear this is not a done deal.
"These are only suggestions. The ANC have made it clear. National (leadership) will decide who should be deployed as premier. National may choose to deploy their preferred candidate," a source said.
Cabinet reshuffles can be expected in both Eastern Cape and Western Cape, with ANC insiders describing the premiers' axing as "targeted interventions" and "not purging".
While Eastern Cape has been plagued by poor service delivery, infighting in Western Cape has left the ANC in the province split along racial lines.
The ANC is "looking for someone to hit the ground running", hinting to a possible appointment from within the existing cabinet.
The ANC wants to see a visible turnaround from Balindlela's poor track record in health, education, public works and the treasury as a matter of urgency. As a short-term measure to improve service delivery, the ANC wants provincial departments to spend all the budget allocations likely to be rolled over. Another possible intervention includes partnering with national departments to fasttrack government programmes.
Meanwhile, the 20 ANC NEC members who visited the party's North West structures are still compiling reports. The visit was spurred by a spate of violent attacks in the province .
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