Pretoria - Political analyst and public policy lecturer at Mpumalanga University Dr John Molepo is adamant that members of the executive committee in Limpopo will be reshuffled.
This is despite re-elected provincial chairperson and premier Stan Mathabatha saying there are currently no plans to do so.
The party came out of a fiercely contested 10th elective conference that saw five MECs not making the additional list of the provincial executive committee (PEC), a fact that may have political implications for the group.
The new PEC is set to hold its first meeting tomorrow.
Out in the cold are Public Works MEC Dr Dickson Masemola, who challenged Mathabatha for the position of chairperson; education MEC Polly Boshielo; treasurer MEC Seaparo Sekoati; agriculture MEC Nandi Ndalane; and sport, arts and culture MEC Thandi Moraka.
Last week, the Pretoria News reported that Mathabatha vowed not to use his position to settle political scores, saying he would not “advocate reshuffling” of his cabinet “at this stage”, but would do so “should it become necessary”.
However, Molepo reckons otherwise, saying the reshuffle of the executive committee is imminent, despite President Cyril Ramaphosa warning against reshuffling of cabinets because members contested.
Molepo said yesterday: “Reshuffle is looming… Although that would happen, he probably won't reshuffle all of them because of alliance partners.
“For example, look at Polly Boshielo. The premier might not want to necessarily reshuffle her because she also has SACP credentials. So she still has the SACP ticket for the executive.”
Molepo was adamant a reshuffle is imminent.
“It’s a new game now and new leadership and it’s about consolidating power. There is also a question of resources. To run a department, you must have easy access to resources, which means you will want to be wanted by the PEC to be in that position otherwise they will just make your job difficult.”
He said those that went to conference with a different view of Mathabatha were history.
“Going to the conference, some were disagreeing with Mathabatha, and those that have been disagreeing with him are likely to be chopped.
“The premier must also be able to assess performance; for instance, there are those who are very good and he couldn’t afford to have them out of his executive.
“The sheriff is back with new deputies and those deputies would want to be recognised to support his re-election. Before you reshuffle, you must also consider alliance partners as to who is in the alliance, etc.”
When asked if provinces across the country would heed Ramaphosa’s calls not to reshuffle for the sake of it, Molepo said: “That is a statement the president would have just made in passing. Each and everyone who is in the PEC now wants to consolidate power.”
Molepo said that in their first meeting on Wednesday, they were likely to discuss unity and new programmes.
“They are going to preach unity, although in politics today there is no such thing.They assess the situation and speak about renewal programmes. They will talk about programmes that will indirectly be addressing the imminent reshuffle.”
Pretoria News