Pretoria - Not everyone is pleased about the make-up of ANC task teams set up to probe problems plaguing branch nominations for the party leadership.
At least one provincial leader and national executive committee (NEC) member has accused secretary-general Gwede Mantashe of selecting those in favour of retaining party president Jacob Zuma for a second term.
Independent Newspapers has been given the list of NEC members who are to form the three task teams deployed to provinces to respond to complaints about the party’s nomination process.
In a letter dated October 29 and sent to the provinces, the party said that for Gauteng, the Free State and Mpumalanga, Joyce Mashamba, Joyce Moloi-Meropa, Fikile Mbalula, Fikile Xasa and Lindiwe Zulu would make up the task team.
North West, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape would be handled by Nomvula Mokonyane, Siphiwe Nyanda, Salome Sithole, Ayanda Dlodlo and Dikeledi Magadzi.
Naledi Pandor, Billy Masetlha, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Lumka Yengeni, Nathi Mthethwa and Ruth Bhengu would take care of Limpopo, the Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
“They’ve obviously done this to protect the status quo,” said one NEC member, who is also a provincial secretary. He said Mantashe had “put in people who are loyal”.
“They are doing everything in their power to maintain the status quo. For example, they have taken over the [branch general meetings] in Amathole. That’s why they’re [further] behind [in completing these meetings] than any other region,” said the member.
But North West secretary Kabelo Mataboge said the members deployed to oversee his province were credible.
Mataboge is one of a few provincial leaders who were left off their branches’ audited lists, meaning they were unable to take part in the nominations process.
“We’ve never been concerned about who comes here. We’ve got a credible team of very senior and skilled members of the ANC. [Mantashe] took quite a good decision on who must be in provinces,” said Mataboge.
Attendance registers, violence and problems of quorums were some of the main issues to be looked at by the task team, he said.
The provincial executive committee supported Zuma’s re-election as president next month, he added.
Mantashe would not comment on the task teams and how they were selected. “What is in the public interest is that we’re running the election properly,” he said.
In the Western Cape, several branch meetings had to be postponed at the weekend because of problems with lists and quorums. The province has also had to move its provincial nominations conference to November 24 to make way for this weekend’s NEC meeting.
Political Bureau