By Lynnette Johns
Former Cape Town mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo has emerged as a top contender for the job of Western Cape premier.
Another candidate in the running for the top job is Lynne Brown, current MEC for finance and tourism.
It is understood provincial supporters of newly appointed ANC president Jacob Zuma are planning to remove Ebrahim Rasool as premier and to install a pro-Zuma provincial cabinet, but Rasool and his supporters are unlikely to go down without a fight.
If the pro-Zuma camp has its way the Western Cape provincial cabinet will be remarkably different within two months. An ANC source said on Friday Mfeketo, now number 27 on the party's national list, could get the job. Alternatively Brown was in with a good chance.
Education MEC Cameron Dugmore was likely to be replaced by Yousouf Gabru, a position Gabru has hungered after for years.
Out, too, will be Community Safety MEC Leonard Ramatlakane, with former Sport and Culture MEC Chris Stali being a likely contender for his job.
Two men are expected to take over the portfolio of MEC for Environment, Planning and Economic Development Tasneem Essop. It will be split into Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, which Max Ozinsky will run.
Garth Strachan will take over Economic Development.
Now that Rasool has lost President Thabo Mbeki's guardianship, the knives are clearly out for him.
Rasool and his caucus have come under continual attack from the Zuma camp over the past couple of years, and even though Zuma extended the olive branch to Mbeki this week, it is unlikely this gesture will be emulated in the divided Western Cape.
The ANC's provincial executive committee has the power to change the cabinet.The national executive committee would have to be consulted, but does not necessarily have to agree. However, provincial chairman James Ngculu is an Mbeki man and attempts to change the cabinet will force tensions in the provincial committee to boil over.
A source in the provincial Mbeki camp said: "They want the levers of power so that they can pillage the government's resources, they are not thinking clearly that we have an election coming up in 2009. Nor do they seem to realise that most of the branches support Rasool."
Even though 180 of the ANC's 220 branches in the province nominated Mbeki for president, the provincial executive committee is still largely controlled by Mcebesi Skwatsha and Max Ozinsky's pro-Zuma team.
Another challenge will be the provincial conference in June, where it is expected a new leadership will be elected.
Sources in the Mbeki camp on Friday expressed their concern that with just 18 months to go before the next elections, any further political upheaval would mean the provincial ANC could suffer massive losses at the polls, handing the province to the DA.
Political researcher Jonathan Faull said factional politics in the Western Cape would continue.
But the party realised it needed to heal the divide in the run-up to the 2009 election, so he therefore doubted there would be attempts to reshuffle the cabinet.