Gauteng ANC chairman Paul Mashatile and former deputy health minister Gwen Ramokgopa might return as MECs in a reshuffle of the provincial executive ahead of next year’s local government elections.
The two Gauteng heavyweights are among changes expected in what is likely to be a series of efforts by Gauteng ANC leaders to deal with the pressure the party is facing ahead of the elections.
Other changes expected to be made include the possible disbandment of the Tshwane regional executive committee (REC) and the division of one of the province’s critical provincial departments.
The possible disbandment of Tshwane is understood to have been a recommendation made by a team appointed by the party’s provincial executive committee to assess the state of the ANC in Tshwane, a region eyed by the opposition for a possible electoral victory next year.
The Tshwane REC is known to be divided despite being elected at a regional conference held last year.
The Sunday Independent understands both Mashatile and provincial secretary Hope Papo were among the provincial leaders who held lengthy talks with Tshwane regional leaders to avoid the collapse of last year’s conference.
Structures including the ANC Youth League in the region had threatened not to participate in the regional conference.
Sources close to the Gauteng leadership have indicated that Mashatile’s return was dependent on the approval of Luthuli House, after the party requested that he be moved from the national list to the provincial list of parliamentarians.
“We have requested that they remove him from the national list so that he can return to the provincial legislature. He is of better use to us here than in Cape Town.
“That letter was sent there in March already, and we are starting to be suspicious of the delay,” said one source, who wished to remain anonymous.
He said the finance portfolio was a serious likelihood as Mashatile was chairman of the appropriations committee in Parliament and had previously held the finance MEC position.
Another deployment as MEC for infrastructure development was needed to lead massive infrastructure projects aimed at improving Gauteng’s standing on the continent.
Another source close to the leadership indicated there was a possibility the provincial leadership could split the housing and co-operative governance departments.
The department houses the human settlements, co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) portfolios.
“Even at national government, Cogta has two deputy ministers dedicated specifically to both co-operative governance and traditional affairs. You can imagine how huge the scope is when you have to include housing as part of that as well,” said the source.
“There is a view that we need to split that department and have the human settlements MEC focus specifically on housing because that is a major issue here in Gauteng,” said the source.
Mashatile’s public rejection of Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko’s report on Nkandla this week also appears to have positioned Gauteng as the devil’s advocate in the lead-up to the ANC’s elective conference in 2017.
He became the first sitting ANC MP and member of the ANC national executive committee to publicly reject Nhleko’s report, which found that the president was not liable to pay back any money spent on the non-security features at his home in Nkandla.
Until Mashatile spoke against Nhleko’s report on Thursday, the ANC appeared to have closed ranks on the Nkandla issue, with the ANC-dominated parliamentary ad-hoc committee on Nhleko’s report expected to accept the report amid fierce protests from the opposition.
Mashatile’s comments against Nkandla are seen as bigger than the Nkandla issue itself but integral to the provincial structure’s political path to 2017.
It was not the first time that Mashatile has spoken out against Nkandla.
He is known to have unpopularly protested against the handling of the matter at the party’s national executive committee meeting in Nelspruit last year, a couple of days before Zuma delivered the January 8 statement.
Neither Mashatile nor Ramokgopa was available for comment.
Sunday Independent