Power struggle hinders province

AMESSY power game that will ultimately cost the people of the Eastern Cape.

This is perhaps the most appropriate description of the political wrangle between the ANC in the province and premier Phumulo Masualle.

Yesterday, the party’s provincial leaders, as well as alliance partners Cosatu, the SACP and Sanco, hit out at Masualle for what they said was his defiance of the instruction to reshuffle his cabinet. It’s been long coming. After failing to convince their national bosses that Masualle should go, the party’s provincial leaders then resolved that at the very least some of his MECs should be shown the door.

This, they said, would be in the interest of good governance.

So far Masualle – with whom the constitutional prerogative lies – is yet to comply with the ANC’s instruction.

“The continued defiance of the authority of the ANC (provincial leadership) and the alliance by the premier and other MECs will not be tolerated,” the party’s statement said.

Notwithstanding the potentially sinister political interests at play here, it is also true that some MECs in Masualle’s team are not fit for purpose and, in fact, should be sent packing.

Yesterday’s statement by the ANC and the alliance demonstrates most explicitly the unworkable relationship between Masualle and his party. It demonstrates how the toxic power dynamics between the two factions have resulted in a power stalemate in government.

This situation is clearly unsustainable.

For this reason, we must ask then how long the ANC’s national bosses, in particular President Cyril Ramaphosa, will continue to bury their heads in the sand.

Their silence and perceived inaction on this matter is tantamount to sacrificing what should be sound and effective governance at the altar of factional politics.