Quinton Mtyala
FORMER ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe said lessons had to be drawn from the manner in which KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu was forced to resign six months after he lost against Sihle Zikalala to lead the party in that province.
Speaking on the sidelines of the High Level Panel on the Assessment of Key Legislation meeting in Cape Town, Motlanthe, whose political career was essentially ended following his bruising defeat by Jacob Zuma at the ANC’s Mangaung conference in December 2012, said Mchunu’s axing could have an impact on the unity of the ANC.
“Premiers are elected by members of the legislature. That is why when you’re a premier, you’re a premier for all the citizens in that particular province. And how it gets communicated, if there is to be a change, is important to pay attention to the distinction that parties only nominate, MPLs elect the premier,” said Motlanthe.
After Mangaung, he was given the responsibility of establishing the ANC’s political school, but that came to naught and instead an ANC national executive committee subcommittee – headed by Nathi Mthethwa– on political education was established.
“From time to time, I’m called upon to give inputs at seminars to provinces, I don’t arrange that, it is arranged by the subcommittee,” said Motlanthe.
Asked about controversy over the Hawks and investigation into Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s alleged role in the establishment of the Sars rogue spy unit, and confirmation this week that they were no longer probing him, Motlanthe said he was happy.
“I’m glad that the Hawks have gone on record to say that he’s not under investigation and that he’s not a suspect of any wrongdoing. At least that reassures all of us that he can now focus on ensuring that we have a climate conducive for economic growth and stability,” said Motlanthe.
When he spoke at an ANC branch meeting in Johannesburg in March, Motlanthe was critical of South Africa’s economic management, and said government debt essentially meant that South Africa was borrowing R11 billion each day, which would ultimately impact on citizens.
The panel finalised its schedule of public hearings at its meeting yesterday.
Motlanthe said the hearings would start in mid-August, and are scheduled to end at the end of February.
At least one public hearing will be held in each province as follows:
l Eastern Cape in August
l Free State in September
l Gauteng in November
l KZN in October
l Limpopo in late January 2017
l Mpumalanga in late January 2017
l North West in February 2017
l Northern Cape in September
l Western Cape in early December.
The panel is also in the process of finalising specific laws for focus, out of the more than 1 000 passed since 1994.
The 17-member panel, launched in January by Speaker Baleka Mbete, has been mandated to assess the effectiveness of key legislation passed by Parliament since 1994.