Rustenburg - Internal battles are holding the ANC from appointing a new premier to lead the North West province, political analyst Andre Duvenhage said on Monday.
"The micro context is that there is a big internal fighting within the structures of the ANC and this make it difficult for them to take final decisions in the build up to properly the most difficult national and provincial elections for the ANC. Clearly, we have a rebellion with the structures of the ANC against [President Cyril] Ramaphosa..." said Duvenhage, from the Potchefstroom campus of the North West University.
"That rebellion is coming from at least three but maybe four sources of origin, that is KZN [KwaZulu-Natal] where [ former president Jacob] Zuma himself and [Sihle] Zikalala are prominent, the Free State, Magashule and the whole Supra scenario.
Read: Supra Mahumapelo steps down as North West Premier
"And Supra has a lot of support within the structures of the ANC in the North West, so it is not easy to take that decision without losing support," he said.
"When you are divided you cannot take straight decisions and it is clear that the candidates that were nominated by the PEC [provincial executive committee] of the North West were Supra loyalists and that was not acceptable to the Ramaphosa [loyalists]."
The ANC is yet to name a premier for North West after former premier Supra Mahumapelo, 49, resigned on May 23 but kept his position as the provincial chairperson of the ANC in the province.
The provincial executive committee (PEC) forwarded the names of former North West Education MEC Reverend OJ Tselapedi, North West Provincial Legislature Speaker and acting ANC North West provincial secretary Sussana Dantjie and Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development MEC Manketse Tlhape to the National Executive Committee (NEC) as candidates to lead North West, but the NEC reportedly rejected the names seen as Mahumapelo's loyalists.
The names of former Education MEC Zacharia Pitso Tolo, SA Communist Party provincial secretary Madoda Sambatha, chairperson of the portfolio committee on environmental affairs Mohlopi Philemon Mapulane and provincial executive member Mmoloki Cwaile have been suggested as possible candidates to replace Mahumapelo.