Mahikeng quiet after protests

• Ramaphosa to address urgent meeting with ANC structures, alliance partners and North West party caucus

Mahikeng, capital of the North West, resembled a ghost town on Thursday, with several shops closed amid a violent protest.

President Cyril Ramaphosa would address an urgent meeting with ANC structures, its alliance partners and the party caucus in the North West on Friday, the party said last night

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule; his deputy, Jessie Duarte; and national executive members for the province will accompany Ramaphosa.

Earlier, residents demanding service delivery and the removal of Premier Supra Mahumapelo blocked entrances to the town with rocks and burning tyres. Violence erupted, with shops being looted.

North West police spokeswoman Adele Myburgh confirmed that nine people had been arrested since the violence erupted on Wednesday.

Mahumapelo’s spokesman, Brian Setswambung, called on protesters to end the violence and to discuss issues with the provincial government.

The protests were nothing more than a bid to discredit Mahumapelo, he said.

It is “an anti-Supra Mahumapelo political campaign, which seeks to intimidate residents of Mahikeng”, he said.

Analyst Ralph Mathekga said that Mahumapelo would struggle to recover from the uproar‚ which comes in the wake of news that his son received a bursary worth R1m from broke state-owned arms manufacturer Denel.

Mahumapelo’s office was raided by the Hawks in March amid investigations linked to leaked documents that implicate it in maladministration‚ fraud and corruption.

“He has already opted for a wrong defence by saying he is being purged for supporting Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma‚” Mathekga said.

A power change had taken place at provincial level since president Jacob Zuma left office in February and those who supported Zuma had difficulty adjusting, he said.

“It’s every man for himself now that Zuma is gone,” Mathekga said.

The EFF in the North West has filed a motion of no confidence in the premier in the provincial legislature. The speaker, however, decided that the vote on the motion will not take place under a secret ballot.

The EFF, whose national arm successfully petitioned the Constitutional Court to compel National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete to use her discretion in a no-confidence motion it had brought against Zuma in Parliament, has again approached the courts to challenge the North West legislature speaker’s decision on the Mahumapelo vote.

The ANC in the province said on Thursday that it was concerned about sporadic protests, which have resulted in violence.

A delegation from Luthuli House led by Magashule and Duarte visited the North West this week and met ANC MPLs in the province to dissuade the officials from voting out Mahumapelo on the motion brought by the opposition.