The Cat corners Cyril
President’s dilemma over David Mabuza clouds his crucial cabinet decision
ANC deputy president David Mabuza and party national chair Gwede Mantashe appeared before the party’s integrity commission on Friday evening in a last-ditch attempt to clear their names ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of his new cabinet.
Mabuza’s availability for the position of SA’s deputy president has been the subject of much speculation since he asked the party to postpone his swearing-in as an MP until the integrity commission has cleared his name.
Mabuza subsequently approached the commission and requested to meet them on Friday. They agreed and Mabuza — known as The Cat in ANC circles because of his political survival skills, including surviving a poisoning incident — is believed to have defended himself against a report that flagged him as having questionable integrity.
Ramaphosa was yesterday inaugurated as SA’s fifth democratically elected president in front of a crowd of 30,000, including African heads of state and other dignitaries at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane. He is expected to announce his cabinet tomorrow.
Dilemma
In his speech, Ramaphosa did not drop a hint about how his cabinet will look, instead using the first address of his term to call for unity. “Despite our differences, despite a past of conflict and division and bitterness, despite the fierce political contestation among 48 political parties in recent months, we share the same hopes and fears, the same anxieties and aspirations,” he said.
The Sunday Times understands that Ramaphosa is facing a dilemma, trying to decide the position of deputy president — and what to do with two of his senior and trusted ministers, Mantashe and Pravin Gordhan.
On Friday the public protector said Gordhan had violated the constitution in a matter related to the approval of former South African Revenue Service commissioner Ivan Pillay’s early retirement.
It remains unclear whether Ramaphosa will take the risk of appointing Mabuza and Mantashe before they are cleared by the integrity commission. Nor is it clear whether Gordhan will make the cut despite the adverse finding by the public protector.
The integrity commission will submit its full report on Mabuza, and 21 other leaders, to Luthuli House on Tuesday.
The chair of the integrity committee, George Mashamba, yesterday confirmed they met Mabuza on Friday. “He called for the meeting — but it was after we made a call that whoever was flagged must appear before us,” said Mashamba.
The report, the Sunday Times understands, will be forwarded to the ANC national executive committee, which will discuss it at its meeting on Thursday.
The Sunday Times has been told that one of the complaints about Mabuza is an allegation that he was linked to dozens of political killings when he was the ANC’s strongman leader in Mpumalanga. An insider said Mabuza maintained that the accusations of murder, which have been made repeatedly over the years, were merely “rumours perpetuated by his political rivals”.
“His main argument is that he has long been accused but the matter was never taken up by law enforcement and all the accusations made against him have been discredited,” the insider said.
In a meeting of the ANC top six in Cape Town on Monday, Mabuza is said to have suggested he step aside to clear his name, but a compromise was then reached to delay his swearing-in as an MP.
On Wednesday, Mabuza sat in parliament, watching MPs also implicated in the integrity committee report being sworn in.
“You see, allegations of murder are not the same as corruption or tender fraud. Murder is very serious and these accusations are not tested, so he was adamant that he wanted to clear his name,” a second source said.
He said Mabuza called Mashamba and requested an opportunity to clear his name, soon after his colleagues were sworn in. “Mashamba and them started slotting people in to come and present themselves before the integrity committee, and Mabuza and Gwede [Mantashe] were slotted in on Friday,” the source said. The source said Mabuza argued that the allegations of murder against him were so flimsy that he had opened defamation cases with the police last year against those who accused him of being a murderer.
He also argued that he was not under investigation by law enforcement.
Both formally in the ANC and informally among his allies, Mabuza has maintained that he wants to be cleared fully before assuming any political position.
But ANC leaders said Mabuza’s reluctance
about going back to the Union Buildings was really because he was frustrated by the “lack of power he wielded in the state” as deputy president.
“And he has been complaining that ministers don’t take him seriously as head of the ANC’s deployment committee as they appoint boards of state entities without consulting him, and when he raises the matter they say the president had already approved,” a known Mabuza ally said on condition of anonymity. Mabuza’s detractors also suspect he wants to be based at Luthuli House so that he can start an early campaign for Ramaphosa’s ANC job.
It is not known if Mabuza will agree to be sworn in before the commission submits its report.
A Ramaphosa ally said the president was in a quandary over this and had maintained up until last weekend that the deputy of the ANC should be the deputy president of the country.
However, he said that Ramaphosa was not expected to delay the announcement of his cabinet beyond tomorrow. Ramaphosa was inaugurated yesterday with pomp and ceremony that featured a show of strength and national pride.
Ramaphosa himself called the occasion a “defining moment for our young nation”.
“Having taken the oath of office I am saying yes, South Africa, Thuma Mina. And I pledge here today that I will serve you, I will work with you, side by side, to build the South Africa that we all want and deserve,” he said.
Ramaphosa’s inauguration at Loftus Versfeld was the scene of incredible sights of unity from the public.
An unprecedented full battalion review and parade, together with an elaborate air force flyover, asserted Ramaphosa as commander-in-chief.
As Ramaphosa took the oath before chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, his cabinet was automatically dissolved.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the inauguration was a great celebration of who South Africans are, but Ramaphosa’s work begins now.
He said Ramaphosa must reduce the size of the cabinet. “Make the cabinet smaller, choose the best people and, in finance, stick with [Tito Mboweni]. We can’t keep changing finance ministers,” Maimane said.
Earlier, EFF leader Julius Malema told the media that he believed Ramaphosa must keep Mabuza as deputy president if he wants to govern in peace.
African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe welcomed Ramaphosa’s speech but warned him to live up to his promises.
“[What I would be watching] will be whether there will be rotten, corrupt people in his cabinet. He has promised to deal with corruption swiftly, so we will be watching if those people whose characters and reputations are tainted are returned to cabinet,” said Meshoe.
He said if Ramaphosa did that he would be sending a clear message that he is not serious and he should not be trusted.