Cape Town - The ANC caucus in the City of Cape Town has made changes to its leadership. In an unexpected move, Xolani Sotashe was removed as the leader with party chief whip Thandi Makhasi.
Banele Majingo is the new leader of the opposition and Charlotte Heyns the new opposition Whip
The decision was taken by the party’s Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) and confirmed by member Mvusi Mdala.
“As an organisation, we considered that the amount of work that needs to be done by sub-council chairs is too big. We wanted to have comrades who are not overworked and decided to replace them.”
The pair will remain ordinary councillors.
The IPC has been working to get the region in order and ready for the upcoming conferences. The Dullah Omar Region, which is the party’s biggest region in the province, was dissolved in February this year after the IPIC found it would not meet the deadline for holding a regional conference.
The party’s performance in last year’s local government elections was also a concern for many members, but Mvala said they were satisfied with the performance.
“He (Sotashe) was not leading the campaign and we are satisfied with their performance in the last term.”
There are reports that Sotashe was removed from the position due to his rumoured alignment with the RET faction in the ANC.
Speaking to the Weekend Argus, Sotashe said he was not part of RET. “People are paranoid, I am not a RET.
“There is no removal here,” he said. “What we are trying to do is hand over the baton to the second layer of the leadership. We had a meeting and I have been complaining about the amount of work I have because I am also a sub-council chairperson. I am overstretched.”
Sotashe said he supported the leaders and would do a proper handover with the media present. He added he had been focusing on his studies and had not ruled out contesting for a position when the conference comes.
“I have also been focusing on my branch, if my branch nominates me I cannot decline because it is them that gave me the mandate to be here in the first place.”