Limpopo premier under siege

LIMPOPO Premier Cassel Mathale is under siege. Once the strongman of ANC politics in the province, now he can only stand and watch as his opponents crush his political network.

LIMPOPO Premier Cassel Mathale is under siege. Once the strongman of African National Congress (ANC) politics in the province, now he can only stand and watch as his opponents crush his political network, evident in this week’s disbanding of ANC regions led by his allies.

The three regions — Peter Mokaba, Sekhukhune and Mopani — had aligned with Mr Mathale last year ahead of the ANC’s Mangaung conference, in the stillborn campaign to topple President Jacob Zuma.

And since the conference in December, the new year has shown that hell hath no fury like Zuma scorned.

As early as March, Mr Mathale was fired as ANC provincial chairman and his leadership replaced with a proZuma interim task team.

The disbanding of the regions this week marked the first political decision taken by the task team in the three months since they took office. The team has for some time been pointed to the activities of the government, sparking speculation that Mr Mathale’s term as premier could be cut short.

But, he in fact lives another day. A source in the province says that Mr Mathale is still protected by a decision from the ANC’s top ranks that in the post-Mangaung operation, which Mr Zuma’s allies have dubbed a “revolutionary programme”, provincial premiers should not be removed.

The same cannot be said of the chairmen of the disbanded Mopani, Sekhukhune and Peter Mokaba regions, who are also mayors in their respective district municipalities.

The disbanding of regions renders their future in the government uncertain. And unlike Mr Mathale, the three mayors — Joshua Matlou (Mopani), Lawrence Mapoulo (Peter Mokaba) and David Magabe (Sekhukhune) — may not enjoy any protection.

Mr Mathale’s troubles could best be explained by an unspoken dictum in the ANC that after the conference the “winner takes all”. This started in Polokwane in 2007 when Mr Zuma defeated former president Thabo Mbeki. Mr Mbeki stepped down as president of the country the following year.

The remaining two regions in Limpopo — Vhembe and Waterberg — which are seen to be sympathetic to Mr Zuma, were placed under the task team’s administration this week. In Vhembe, the ANC last month lost a by-election to the Pan Africanist Congress.

The regional ANC leadership attributed this loss to the role of disgruntled members who had campaigned against the party. The ANC’s regional secretary in Vhembe, Khathu Netshifhefhe, says the region’s problems had been “caused by the disbanded provincial exe- cutive committee” under Mr Mathale’s control.

Mr Netshifhefhe says Mr Mathale’s allies promoted factionalism. “We were able to stand firm and resist the influence,” he says.

He says the allegations that the region was dysfunctional lacked substance, adding this was why the provincial task team and the national executive committee were satisfied with the region’s response following an assessment process.

He says those members who had been campaigning against the ANC candidate in last month’s by-election had been identified and would either have to resign from the party or face disciplinary action.

Waterberg, ANC’s smallest region in Limpopo in terms of membership, had been the most troubled in the period ahead of Mangaung. At least 52 of its 69 branches had a parallel structure. This means there are two sets of different membership records for each branch.

ANC secretary in the Waterberg region Andries Lekalakala says those members who were recruited “outside of formal structures” (code for Mr Mathale’s backers) would be verified before being allowed to participate in ANC activities.

“If they met the requirements to join the ANC, then they would be put under a probation period.”

The message is clear: the erosion of Mr Mathale’s backers is now heading to the ANC branches on the ground.