Pretoria - The battle lines are drawn between the incumbent ANC Tshwane secretary Eugene “Bonzo” Modise and deputy regional leader Aaron Maluleka for the position of regional chairperson ahead of the elective conference in April.
Lobbying for the two leaders is in full swing, with the ANC Youth League pushing for Modise to replace the current regional leader, Dr Kgosi Maepa.
The youth movement, which strongly supported Maepa during the 2018 elective conference, has refuted claims that it had dumped him.
Its secretary, Ratshi Mashamba, said: “I have not turned my back on Maepa. I am supporting comrade Eugene Modise to ascend to the responsibility of the regional chairperson.”
He said Modise’s backers were “working hard to persuade other comrades” to rally behind their proposed leadership.
Maluleka’s lobbyists, who include the ANC Women’s League, held a view that he must ascend to the party’s top position based on his experience in council and impressive leadership qualities.
Those who spoke to the Pretoria News said they wanted Maluleka to take over the reins as the next chairperson. In the same breath, they want Modise to retain his position as regional secretary.
Their argument is premised on the fact that both Maluleka and Modise have majority support in their respective zones in Hammanskraal and Mawiga.
Maluleka’s group expressed concern that both Modise and Maluleka seemed to be supporting former deputy secretary George Matjila to be elected the new secretary.
They said Matjila could potentially “destroy the ANC of Tshwane and other comrades who don’t agree with him”, alleging that he did so when he was the deputy secretary of former secretary Paul Mojapelo from 2014 to 2018.
Matjila said he had already agreed to a proposal to become secretary. He lashed out at his detractors, saying fears that he might destroy the party were unfounded.
He said it was not true that he had destroyed the ANC during his tenure as the deputy secretary.
“Comrades should not lie whenever they don’t prefer a certain individual,” he said.
Maluleka said: “It should be noted that any deputy in any organisation will have aspirations to assume the apex position, but in the ANC it is different.
“We look at how we can strengthen the organisation and build a strong organisation that will collectively respond to the challenges.”
He said the conference “will not only deal with the elections of leadership, but look at many matters like our performance in the last elections, and policy inputs towards the national conference in December”.
Modise said people were at liberty to talk about their preferred candidates before conferences.
However, he said it would not be prudent for him to respond to people’s views because there was “no guarantee” that he would emerge victorious.
In terms of ANC policy, he said, his zone must be the one first endorsing his candidature.
Pretoria News