‘Black Jesus’ battles to keep disciples in line
More ANC councillors are said to be rebelling in North West since Tlokwe
THEY call him the Black Jesus.
Supra Mahumapelo is arguably the most powerful politician in the trouble-torn North West province.
As provincial ANC chairman, he has a say in all major government deployments.
But it is his style of leadership that has earned him the tag.
His detractors accuse him of wanting to run everything in North West, from small municipalities to premier Thandi Modise’s office. It is his penchant for power, they say, that has deeply divided the ANC in the province — hence making North West ripe for an opposition takeover in next year’s elections.
But Mahumapelo said the nickname was coined by “naughty people” within the ANC who seek his downfall.
“At some point [suspended Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima] Vavi — who is facing his own problems today — said that I call myself the Black Jesus. Which is not true because I’ve always clarified this thing that as a Christian I will never allow people to call me Black Jesus or call myself Black Jesus because it is demeaning to Jesus Christ himself. No man on Earth can be compared to him,” Mahumapelo said.
There was a “positive side” to the nickname, he said.
“Some people say they call me Jesus because I’m too forgiving. I take too long to get angry. But that does not mean I must be compared to Jesus.”
Like Christ, Mahumapelo continued, he once forgave a man who was hired by his political rivals to kill him.
“I said to him, ‘There are two things behind [the plan to kill me]. It is some politicians in the ANC who’ve got problems with me. Secondly, it is the Devil’. I said to him, ‘You need to be liberated. Your liberation is that I’m forgiving you’.”
For years now, Mahumapelo has been a controversial figure in the province.
When the Congress of the People was formed in 2008, he was said to be one of the leaders who encouraged ANC members to join the breakaway group.
He confirmed that he had backed former president Thabo Mbeki’s bid to stand for a third term as ANC president, but said rumours of his links with COPE came from people who wanted “to politically liquidate” him.
By December last year, the former Mbeki man had become one of President Jacob Zuma’s staunchest supporters — resulting in a major feud with the then ANC provincial secretary, Kabelo Mataboge, who opposed Zuma.
The feud ended with Mataboge being from the ANC.
The falling out surprised many who had seen Mahumapelo and Mataboge as old friends and comrades.
But Mahumapelo told the Sunday Times this week that he has no friends.
“I don’t need them. I don’t have these people called intimate friends because my father taught me if you want to make it in life stay away from people you can regard as intimate friends.”
Mahumapelo’s detractors say his “divisive” leadership style is to blame for the ANC blunders that saw the party hand over control of Tlokwe Municipality to the DA.
Mahumapelo stood by the ANC’s Maphetle Maphetle even when it was clear that most of the party’s councillors in the area wanted him removed as
suspended mayor.
In a number of other North West municipalities there is talk of an impending rebellion from councillors who are not happy with Mahumapelo’s instructions.
But Mahumapelo , who is also the speaker of the provincial legislature, denied that he wielded so much power.
“I can’t control everything in the province. I rarely meet with comrades who are in government.
‘‘So I don’t know what people mean when they say I control everything.”
He conceded that there was a negative perception of the ANC among voters in the province — albeit, he said, “over magnified” — and said he had a plan to regain their trust. It involves
I can’t control everything in the province. I don’t know what people mean when they say I control everything
ordering all local politicians to publicly declare their business interests.
“We must make sure politicians who are interested in engaging in business as entrepreneurs do so within the confines of the laws of the republic. If we don’t do so we are breaking the law.
“Immediately when you deal with people who are breaking the law, they start mobilising that they are being dealt with politically and that they are being liquidated politically. It now becomes a political conspiracy,” he said.
For his part, Mahumapelo said he runs an entertainment company, 360 Cure, and an Africancuisine restaurant, Afrikanos. He plans to open his own Chikanos fast-food restaurant.