By Wendy Jasson da Costa
The new Gauteng ANC chairperson, Paul Mashatile, is a big fan of Orlando Pirates, but he'll have to do much better than the bottom-of-the-log PSL team to forge unity in the province.
Like his favourite soccer club, the Gauteng finance MEC is continuously dogged by controversy - ranging from tender irregularities and conflict of interests to an expensive taste in food.
The member of the so-called "Alex mafia" was this week elected chairperson of the ANC in Gauteng, and he is confident that the party is now in "good hands".
His detractors say he belongs to a powerful "cartel" from Alexandra township - where Mashatile grew up - that wields a strong influence in the provincial government.
They credit this "mafia" with Mashatile's election win over education MEC Angie Motshekga.
The "mafia's" latest aim - according to Mashatile's rivals - is to seize the premiership of the province when Mbhazima Shilowa steps down at the end of his two terms in 2009.
Asked if he would like to become the fourth premier of the richest and most powerful province in the country, if not the continent, Mashatile answers in the obfuscatory style that has become a staple of the ANC - he will be willing to go wherever he is deployed.
Asked if he is capable of doing the job, he says "Yes!"
If he becomes premier, he will have to undergo the difficult transition from the exchequer to the highest political office in the province.
The ANC's winter policy conference decided that the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) should recommend a pool of names to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for the position of premier.
The NEC will make the final decision on the nominees in December.
It is this crucial, anxiously-awaited and contentious conference that will also decide who leads the ANC, following a succession battle that has lasted six long years and has threatened to split the ruling party in two.
Indeed, the succession debate has polarised provinces into pro-Mbeki and pro-Zuma camps.
At the close of the ANC Gauteng conference, dozens of delegates donned T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma and the words "100 percent JZ".
Mashatile has the mighty task of keeping unity in the province as it starts deliberating on its preferred national leaders.
"Give us a week," says Mashatile, responding to a query on whether his province is avoiding the national succession debate.
He admits that if the succession debate is not handled properly, it can divide the province.
However, rumour has it that he is neither in the Mbeki camp nor in the Zuma one.
Mashatile is said to be backing presidential hopeful and businessman Tokyo Sexwale.
In her election campaign, Motshekga made it clear that she was a Zuma supporter.
Mashatile admits that he has been linked to the Mbeki camp, but states that he has never publicly announced his preferred candidate. He will rather wait for the provincial general council in November before making his recommendation.
He is also aware of how he has been linked to Sexwale.
To counter this, he punctuated his address on Tuesday with the following: "In Gauteng, there is no individual position, there is no Paul Mashatile position. As Gauteng we will go to Limpopo united behind what we consider to be the best team to lead the ANC in our country."
Still, he will have a tough time slipping from under Sexwale's shadow.
According to Mbeki's unofficial chief campaigner Deputy Defence Minister Mluleki George, when the president's men met Sexwale's people, Mashatile was among them.
There have also been rumours that Sexwale has paid for Mashatile's support in cash - and lots of it.
Mashatile denies ever receiving cash in trade, adding that it is impossible to "buy people" in the ANC.
Nevertheless, given the nature of the succession struggle, the rivalry between Mashatile and Motshekga is set to heat up.
The two have frequently been on opposite sides.
In 2001, Motshekga defeated Mashatile for the position of Gauteng ANC deputy chairperson.
Six years later, Mashatile's victory over her was marked by tension, which prompted Shilowa to call for a truce of sorts.
But Mashatile insists that although he and Motshekga are not "personal friends" they have a good working relationship and "no real ideological differences".
"I call her ousie Mmatsie," he says.
In the spirit of comradeship, Motshekga walked over to Mashatile to hug him when he was announced as the winner.
However, while Shilowa publicly maintains a neutral stance, it is believed that, in private, he supports Mashatile. This is why the premier refused to stand or to accept a floor-nomination.
"It was after he realised that Paul was ahead," says a Motshekga sympathiser.
That said, the 46-year-old Mashatile is the province's most senior and tested politician in his own right.
He served in structures such as the SA Congress of Students, the Youth Congress, the United Democratic Front and the interim ANC PWV region (now Gauteng) under current party secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe.
Ironically, during the election of the ANC PWV leadership in 1991, Sexwale was elected chairperson over Mbeki-backed candidate Jackie Selebi, the current national Police Commissioner.
Six years later, Motshekga's husband, Mathole, defeated director-general Frank Chikane, another Mbeki man.
Mashatile - who served four ANC provincial chairperson and three premiers - was always waiting quietly in the wings.
Mashatile says his election win shows that the members in his party have faith in his abilities and are not swayed by the "malicious rumours" surrounding him.
Earlier in 2007, Mashatile and Gauteng transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs were at the centre of a storm following their announcement that a R12-billion monorail linking Soweto to Johannesburg would soon be constructed.
This prompted stern disapproval from Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe, who criticised the pair for making plans without his permission.
Mashatile, the son of a lay priest and a domestic worker, survived the storm - just as he survived the condemnation that was heaped on him last year after he clocked up a dinner bill of about R96 000 at a five-star eatery after rewarding his staff for a job well done.
Mashatile maintains that there was nothing untoward in rewarding senior managers and stakeholders in this fashion.
Then there were his alleged shares in Business Connexion, a firm that secured several lucrative tenders from the Gauteng Shared Service Centre (GSCC), an entity in Mashatile's treasury.
Mashatile has labelled such allegations as stemming from a "personal vendetta", adding that the resulting controversy has hurt his family.
The most hurtful claim in this regard, he says, was when it was reported that his daughter, Palesa, an IT specialist, has been employed by Business Connexion as a way of winning government business.
Mashatile believes the most pressing issue currently facing the ANC in Gauteng is to continue the "good work" of his predecessor, Shilowa.
Among the main goals will be to build strong party branches and to accelerate service delivery amid several protests.
He says the PEC will go to the communities to listen to their concerns, rather than simply sending in one leader to deal with problem.
For all his political dexterity, Mashatile will have his hands full. The true test of his character is now.