ANC regional panel deadlocks on BCM shake-up
THREE senior Buffalo City councillors face the chop in a pending council shake-up.
The ANC regional deployment committee (RDC) submitted their recommendations for changes last week.
In the firing line are the metro’s longest-serving finance portfolio head John Badenhorst, council speaker Luleka Simon-Ndezele and ANC chief whip Sangweni Matwele.
The recommendations will be tabled at a special provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting to be held in Calata House tomorrow.
ANC provincial spokesman Mlibo Qoboshiyane confirmed the tabling of a report from the RDC “that will consider all deployments”.
The Daily Dispatch has learnt that when the RDC tabled its recommendations to its alliance partners, the South Africa Communist Party and Cosatu, the SACP came up with a parallel line-up altogether.
The Dispatch can reveal today that the only position the ANC, its alliance partners and the leagues agreed on was the replacement of Matwele with Mthetheleli Sam as chief whip.
SACP Skenjana Roji regional secretary Boyce Meltafa confirmed yesterday that “we all supported the ANC recommendation to field Mthethetheli Sam as council chief whip”.
For all other positions, Meltafa said, the SACP had different preferences.
At the meeting last week it was agreed that the provincial deployment committee (PDC) would decide on who would make the cut, and that the pool of names should be submitted to Calata House.
Former Buffalo City mayor Zukisa Faku, Simon-Ndzele and Nomiki Mgezi are the names brought forward by the various groupings for the speaker position.
“The ANC came up with both Faku and Simon-Ndzele, but the SACP recommended Nomiki Mgezi for the speaker position,” Meltafa confirmed yesterday.
The factional fight between the ANC and the SACP also played out in all other portfolios, including that of finance head.
While the ANC is recommending Sithembiso Tyilo as the best man to replace Badenhorst, the SACP wants Neil May for the position.
“We agreed to submit all the names to the province for the PEC to decide,” said Meltafa.
ANC’s acting BCM regional secretary Mkhangeli Maleki would not be drawn into discussing the role the region played in effecting the mayoral reshuffle.
“The intervention was a PEC competence and so is the mayoral reshuffle.
“I won’t get into that [details of REC role] in that process.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” said Maleki.
Simon-Ndzele and Faku said they were not aware of the developments and refused to comment.
Badenhorst, Tyilo, Mgezi, Sam and Matwele could not be reached for comment.