Lists: Zuma’s pals toppled in 3 provinces
● The ANC list for parliament and the provincial legislatures shows that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s loyalists have successfully toppled Jacob Zuma’s supporters from key premiership positions in at least three provinces.
Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle, his counterpart in the Northern Cape, Sylvia Lucas, and former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo have all been “promoted” to stand for the National Assembly.
This is seen as a move by Ramaphosa backers to stamp their authority and take control of the three provinces.
Masualle will likely be replaced by finance MEC Oscar Mabuyane after the May elections. Mabuyane, a strong Ramaphosa ally, toppled Masualle as ANC chair in a bitterly contested election in 2017 that boosted the president’s bid to take over from Zuma.
His win, together with that of Zamani Saul — who defeated a faction led by Lucas in the Northern Cape earlier that year — emboldened Ramaphosa’s campaign for president.
Mahumapelo was ousted by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) after months of pressure from Ramaphosa-supporters in North West.
His bitter rival, Kabelo Mataboge, looks set to take over as North West premier as he is No 1 on the provincial list of legislature candi- dates. Mabuyane and Saul are also at the top of their respective province lists.
On the parliamentary list, Masualle is at No 39, Mahumapelo at 58 and Lucas is at 76.
Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said the lists are a reflection of the balance of forces after the Nasrec conference. Both sides are almost equally represented, he said.
“There would have been resistance within the NEC had there been a less equal representation of the two factions,” he said.
“There is also the issue of political realism, with the other faction hoping that the judiciary, the commissions of inquiry and the National Prosecuting Authority will take care of things that they can’t politically [resolve],” he said.
In the Eastern Cape, there is a balance between Ramaphosa loyalists and Zuma’s staunch supporters in the list of candidates for parliament.
The candidates topping the list are former Zuma allies, but the list is still dominated by those who supported Ramaphosa for the party presidency.
In KwaZulu-Natal, a different trend has emerged: localised political battles and not national politics have determined the lists, which are dominated by those who supported current provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli against Super Zuma.