PRIVATE PREMIER
David Makhura aims for ANC top spot
● David Makhura was 20 when the ANC underground instructed him to inform the Bapela family in Alexandra about the whereabouts of their son Titus. It was the 1980s, the height of the apartheid regime’s brutality.
Titus had disappeared. His family had feared the worst because scores of other political activists ended behind bars or as bodies — if found at all.
Titus’s brother Obed, now deputy minister of cooperative governance, was in detention.
“It was Comrade David who was assigned by the ANC to go to my family and tell them Titus had skipped the country and that they must stop looking for him,” said Obed Bapela.
This is one of the stories you won’t hear from Makhura. Trying to get Makhura to talk about himself is like asking the pope to recite the Koran.
The Sunday Times meets Makhura, now aged 50, at the Emoyeni conference centre in Parktown.
For a man facing a sudden rebellion by younger comrades who believe that it is time “the old guard” handed over power, the Gauteng premier seems relaxed.
Granted, the smart money is on him emerging as ANC Gauteng chairman when the party in the province elects new leaders next month. He has held the post in an acting capacity since the ANC conference in December last year.
Even those rebelling seem to have accepted this — but they want his new executive to be dominated by their faction. So the road to the conference is going to be a bumpy one.
We exchange pleasantries and then he politely complains that he should have been warned about having his picture taken. He protests that his blue jersey, a navy sleeveless bomber jacket and blue jeans are not suitable. But after bit of convincing from his media team, we pause the interview and move to a boardroom with better lighting to make photographer Moeletsi Mabe’s job easier.
A most exciting period
A question on how he got into politics begins a 30-minute lecture on the ideological debates of the 1970s and the ’80s between the Black Consciousness Movement and pro-ANC groups — a period he says was the most exciting.
He tells me that if it was not for apartheid, he would have become a jazz musician or an academic because of his love of writing. Makhura trained as a saxophonist at the Alexandra Arts Centre. During that time in Alexandra he met Paul Mashatile (now the ANC’s treasurer-general), Richard Mdakane (now an ANC MP) and Bapela.
“I was part of the Congress of South African Writers — a writers’ organisation within the Congress movement. One of the things I grew up liking was writing. Even then, in the Congress of South African Writers, you encountered politics there. Probably if South Africa was different . . . If you ask me I would have been a musician or an academic. Maybe I’ll return there. I’m saying maybe one day.”
Forcibly removed three times
Makhura’s early political activism can be traced to the early ’80s when, as a student, he joined the Azanian Students’ Movement. He found a home in the BCM after he had experienced the apartheid government’s cruelty as a child.
His family were forcibly removed from their home three times. In all areas where they settled, in the northern part of Limpopo, they had to move because no adult was available to donate their labour to the nearest farms.
Both his parents had relocated to what is now Gauteng. His father settled in Germiston and his mother in Johannesburg. “Black consciousness is very appealing when you have experienced oppression. When you have lived in the part of South Africa and have lived on a farm as I did . . . you have lived in areas where black people were treated as nothing.
“Black consciousness is a major act of self-discovery and self-confidence . . . you have to shake up these walls of oppression. [Black consciousness teaches you that] black people need to believe in themselves. They don’t need to imitate white people. They don’t need to have self-doubt. That’s why there is a resurgence of it on campuses today.”
Makhura remembers participating in several debates at school about which ideology was correct — black consciousness or the Freedom Charter.
“You had to debate, rationalise and engage . . . get convinced and convince others. Why the future espoused by black consciousness is the best versus the future espoused by the Charterists — it was a big debate. I can say I was baptised by ideological fire.”
It was after one of those debates that Makhura crossed the floor by joining the ANC-aligned Congress of South African Students.
“When you get exposed to the ANC . . . to the politics of nonracialism, the politics of the Freedom Charter
. . . you get to understand the history of South Africa and many nations. [You learn that] you can’t just define white people as a problem as a people. You must define a system of white supremacy. It’s a system that is a problem — it’s not individuals.”
Makhura’s peers say he displayed leadership qualities at an early age. Although Makhura lived and studied in Soutpansberg, in northern Limpopo, he visited his parents during school holidays.
He spent much of his time in Alexandra, where he was recruited by the ANC underground.
Bapela told the Sunday Times of a Makhura who displayed potential to lead at a very young age.
“You could see those who had the capacity and potential to become political educators. But he frequently appeared in Alex and then he would disappear,” said Bapela.
It was this potential that was spotted when
Makhura was a teenager that led to him occupying influential positions in Cosas, the South African Students Congress, the ANC Youth League, the Young Communist League and the National Education
Health and Allied Workers Union.
He occupied the position of ANC provincial secretary for a record 13 years — from 2001 to 2014 — before he was elected deputy chairman.
Having interviewed Makhura several times while he was provincial secretary, I have always been intrigued by his deep understanding of government processes and policies.
Building houses
Makhura’s approach to governance is influenced by Cosatu’s industrial policy. Under him the province has ambitious plans to transform, modernise and industrialise the Gauteng economy.
Makhura speaks of success in building houses, providing infrastructure and in education. But his tone changes when he moves to health and safety and security, and admits that his government has not lived up to expectations.
“Crime continues to be a big problem. It’s felt everywhere.”
He says there are plans by the national government to direct more resources to Gauteng.
He then turns to the Life Esidimeni tragedy. His government paid R159.46-million to the 134 claimants who lost relatives. “The whole tragedy is a very sad moment in my term in government.”
Makhura sticks to the statement he made at the arbitration that he was misinformed by then health MEC Qedani Mahlangu.
To prevent this happening again, he says, he has curbed the powers of his MECs, making it compulsory for them to get approval from his cabinet before making major decisions.
Plans for new cities
Makhura has another headache, a growing housing backlog in the province. At last count, he reveals, the shortage stood at one million units — up from 600 000. He attributes this to migration.
His answer to this is a plan to construct new cities at a scale of between 10 000 to 30 000 housing units.
There are 31 projects already on the table. There are plans to release serviced land to citizens who can afford to build houses for themselves. This would include releasing agricultural land and government buildings to businesses.
But with all these plans in place, will he still be premier after next year’s elections?
The opposition has identified Gauteng as a low-hanging fruit, especially after the ANC lost Johannesburg and Tshwane in 2016.
But Makhura says the opposition will have a difficult time trying to convince ANC voters to ditch the party.
“The battle for Gauteng is going to be a tough one for the opposition because they are unable to say they offer better governance. We offer transformation and we offer clean governance.
“The game has changed. Not only because we have a new president.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa is a big asset. Any party [wanting to challenge us] will have to come with a leader who can pull. But in our province it’s also about what we have done.”
He says he has pushed for clean governance in Gauteng, including referring 300 investigation reports to the Special Investigating Unit, and the introduction of an open tender system has taken the “corruption campaign tool” away from the opposition.
“We are not about to lose the province to the DA.” However, Makhura’s pursuit of clean governance has put him at odds with his own comrades. The Gauteng government’s decision to put the Emfuleni municipality under administration and an investigation of the department of agriculture have been perceived as attacks on former Emfuleni mayor Jacob Khawe and agriculture MEC Lebogang Maile.
Mobilising opposition
Maile and Khawe have teamed up and are eyeing the positions of deputy chairman and provincial secretary respectively. Their supporters have been crisscrossing the province mobilising that Makhura be challenged by former Tshwane mayor Kgosientso “Sputla” Ramokgopa.
Maile is Mashatile’s protégé. The clash between Makhura and Maile has been interpreted as a sign that cracks are emerging in the “Alex Mafia” — a reference to businessmen and politicians who hail from the township. Some have even claimed that Makhura and Mashatile have fallen out.
But Makhura dismisses this as propaganda. “Anyone who tries to draw the treasurer-general to ANC conference politics will not succeed. The TG of the ANC is not involved in these issues.
“This is nomination period, that’s why there is noise. Let’s not campaign by throwing things around. You can’t stop dealing with corruption because it is conference time. If there are allegations, they must be investigated.”
Won’t the contest cripple the ANC’s election machinery a year before an election?
“Contestation in the ANC is normal. It will give the ANC the best leadership collective . . . After conference there will be one line of march,” he says.
Black consciousness is a major act of self-discovery and self-confidence
You can’t stop dealing with corruption because it is conference time