Sibongakonke Shoba
22 July 2008
Johannesburg — GAUTENG Premier Mbhazima Shilowa is the latest senior African National Congress (ANC) leader to say he would not remain in "active" politics after the elections next year.
Shilowa said he hoped a "cooling-off" law would be finalised when he leaves office next year.
The intended law is supposed to ensure that politicians do not take advantage of their positions after their political careers are over by exploiting contacts in the business world to land lucrative contracts.
It is still being discussed within the ANC and is unlikely to be law by the time Shilowa leaves office by the middle of next year.
Shilowa said yesterday that he planned to continue playing a part in South African politics, but not in "formal" structures.
He follows in the footsteps of Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin and Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, who have both announced that they will not be available for appointment next year.
"I think we sometimes assume that playing a political role means you need to be an official, you have to be in the NEC (ANC national executive committee), you have to be in government. I've come to take a view that says I'll play a political role outside the formal structures of politics," Shilowa said . "I'm not just going to fade into the sunset, I'm still too young." He turned 50 earlier this year .
Shilowa was at the forefront of the group that campaigned for President Thabo Mbeki in the period leading to the ANC's Polokwane conference last year.
His "choice", as he put it, lost to Jacob Zuma. Shilowa later declined nomination to the national executive council of the party.
Since then the current leadership of the ANC has fired two premiers, Ebrahim Rasool of Western Cape and Nosimo Balindlela of Eastern Cape, who supported Mbeki leading up to the conference.
Shilowa said he was not fazed by the recent developments in the ruling party.
"The PEC (provincial executive council) is united in its understanding that whatever we do we must protect institutions of governance. We must ensure that we are able to work better, that we deliver on what we are able to do."
Shilowa said there was nothing "out of the ordinary" about having him as premier but not chairman of the province. "One of the things people forget is that from 1999 to the end of 2001 , I was not the chairman of the ANC. We had a programme that said: What is the dynamic relationship between government and the ANC?"
"You brief the PEC on broad issues. They help you identify gaps and say what it is they can be able to do."
He said even before he was replaced by Paul Mashatile as chairman of the province last year, he still had to report to the PEC. "I do meet with the officials of the ANC, particularly the chair and the secretary, to identify issues."
He said there were plans in place to ensure that the transition between the current and incoming administrations was smooth in the province.
He said he was working with a team of officials to review the past 15 years and an MEC would be required to make handover reports to ensure an easy transition.
He planned to use the period after his retirement to finish two manuscripts on Xitshonga folklore, which he was writing with his uncle.
After that, he would "consider" his options. Going into business was not excluded.
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