Pretoria - Paul Mashatile’s return to the Gauteng provincial legislature was a gain for detractors of President Jacob Zuma in the province and would benefit the capital's mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa.
But Professor Dirk Kotze of the Department of Political Sciences at Unisa said the appointment should not be seen as a watershed move.
Premier David Makhura announced the appointment of Mashathile as new MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs on Tuesday, making him directly in charge of municipalities, including Tshwane.
Kotze, however, described the move as rather a consolidation of the Makhura-Mashatile leadership in the province.
Mashatile, a former minister of arts and culture and Gauteng premier, is the leader of the ANC in the province. “As a former member of the national executive, Mashatile most possibly expected to be included in the new Cabinet in 2014, which did not happen,” said Kotze.
“Therefore, for the last year he was in the political wilderness as an ordinary MP. His appointment as MEC can therefore be seen as a comeback specifically in Gauteng, but it is not clear whether it will have any immediate and direct impact on the capital city.”
Kotze said the ANC would be hurt by the divisions within the party in the upcoming municipal elections, including the pro and anti Zuma groups, which formed long before the 2014 general elections.
Another problematic factor, according to Kotze, was the e-toll system, still resisted by many people; e-tolls had become a symbol of the ANC’s aloofness and its lack of understanding that people on the ground did not want to spend more on transport.
“Other factors in the capital are not necessarily locally-based, but a reflection on the ANC’s credibility decline; the perceived elitism of the political leadership, insensitivity towards the socio-economic problems and promotion of self-interest while the service ethos is in decline.
“Corruption in general is regarded as a malaise which represents the moral and governance decline in the ANC,” he said.
The ANC in Tshwane has had massive internal problems of its own, more recently regarding the election of branch leaders, most of whom will be election candidates.
Chaos has erupted in Hammanskraal, Winterveld, Stinkwater, Bronkhorstspruit and other areas.
There have been protests at the ANC regional offices in Arcadia by unhappy members. These included the now infamous naked-bum protests by women from Hammanskraal and vandalism of the offices at the hands of disgruntled members.
Unhappy members also took the protests to the home of the parents of Ramokgopa in Atteridgeville.
The party’s support decreased, with the DA gaining support in the capital during the general elections in 2014.
The ANC’s tripartite alliance partners in the city have previously voiced their displeasure with Ramokgopa’s leadership.
There are dark clouds such as the Peu electricity smart meters contract, which is under investigation by the public protector.
Makhura spent Wednesday with Ramokgopa interacting with communities in the Tshwane region, but said this had nothing to do with electioneering.
He told the Pretoria News the visit was not motivated by fear that the ANC could lose votes in the city; it was aimed at strengthening the team, he said.
“I cannot apologise for the fact that the ANC has an interest in winning the elections. However, my mandate is to focus on government and not politics,” he said.
The premier added the appointment of Mashatile as MEC also had nothing to do with the upcoming elections.
Unisa’s Professor Kealeboga Maphunye, Wiphold-Brigalia Bam Chair in Electoral Democracy in Africa, said it was too early to state categorically that the capital was up for grabs in the elections.
“Given the mixed electoral system that will underpin the elections, with ward and independent councillors elected together with those on the party list, early signs are that we are heading for an interesting and close contest,” he said.
“But those who believe the city is winnable need to convince us about the fundamental changes in registered voters and voter turnout that will affect the outcome on election day,” Maphunye added.
Pretoria News