ANC: Cracks start to show in Ramaphosa faction

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A meeting on Sunday attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s core allies has exposed cracks in the faction in the build-up to the party’s December elections conference.  

The Mail & Guardian has heard that the meeting resolved to support people who have not been endorsed by powerful provincial players for key positions in the ruling party.

The slate includes Senzo Mchunu for deputy president, Gwede Mantashe as national chair, Fikile Mbalula as secretary general, Gwen Ramokhopa as the deputy secretary general and Tina Joemat-Pettersson as the treasurer general. 

This goes against provinces that have endorsed Ramaphosa for a second term. They are calling for ANC leaders including Oscar Mabuyane, Ronald Lamola and Paul Mashatile to be the deputy president. 

ANC insiders with intimate knowledge of the meeting have told the M&G that although the names advanced at the meeting are said to be finalised, provincial leaders did not agree. 

Eastern Cape provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi and Northern Cape chair Zamani Saul were against the composition. One insider said Ngcukayitobi left the meeting early “annoyed” by the proposed slate. Ngcukayitobi did not respond to questions sent by the publication.  

Denying attending the meeting, Saul said, “I won’t attend meetings that decide on slates. I’m waiting for the BGMs [branch general meetings] to be concluded in the province. I have the  greatest respect for the views of the branches and the PEC [provincial executive committee] collective I’m leading with. I don’t think anybody would risk inviting me to such meetings.” 

But two ANC insiders who attended the meeting said Saul had been there and had objected to the proposed slate because it did not reflect the will of the branches and provinces. Saul is said to have called for another meeting to discuss the slate. 

The insiders added that those who did not attend the meeting included the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provincial leadership. It’s understood that only the Sedibeng region from the Ramaphosa faction in Gauteng attended the meeting. 

The insiders said that national executive committee members Angie Motshekga, Derek Hanekom and Mondli Gungubele championed the composition of the slate. 

Motshekga is said to have argued for Joemat-Pettersson as the perfect candidate for the treasurer general position because she has been endorsed by the ANC Women’s League, is a senior member of the ANC and that funding would not be an issue for her. 

Joemat-Pettersson was married to a wealthy Swedish businessman who died in 2006.

The insider said: “A lot of people boycotted the meeting. Mpumalanga is clear they want Ronald [Lamola]. There is also a view which questions the inclusion of Senzo Mchunu because some feel that he will not even come with a third of his province. At least Oscar [Mabuyane] comes with a majority of his own province. If you look at the list, who is coming with what? Only Gwede can depend on the Eastern Cape with the help of Oscar on that list.” 

Ngcukaitobi is said to have argued that it would be a hard sell for the Eastern Cape branches to support Mchunu. 

“Even if we had introduced them early, there is no Western Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga. How do you win a conference with this line-up?” one insider and Ramaphosa ally said. 

The M&G also understands that Ramaphosa’s national core allies have made attempts to dissuade provincial chair Mabuyane from contesting the December elections, but Eastern Cape regional leaders are against it. 

“It has caused uproar, branches won’t accept that,” an Eastern Cape regional leader said. 

The M&G also understands that Mbalula has been reluctant to campaign for the secretary general position because of the majority view that the position should be held by a woman. 

Ramokgopa was the first pick of those closely linked to Ramaphosa for the secretary general position but there has also been a view that Febe Potgieter-Gqubule should be supported because Ramokgopa’s campaign did not take off. 

“I think part of the problem is that we have taken too much time to discuss people. Mdumiseni Ntuli’s campaign has taken off and Mbalula will not be able to compete this late in the game,” the insider said, adding that Mbalula had some support from a faction in the ANC Youth League. 

“There is also a view that why can’t Oscar give up on this deputy president position and come with a consolidated province which wants a different position. They don’t want Ntulu  because they say he is junior and if you want a younger person Mbalula is much senior.” 

The exclusion of Mabuyane, Lamola, Ntuli, Stan Mathabatha and Paul Mashati will be seen as a blow that could potentially cause friction in the Ramaphosa camp. 

Mashatile and, by extension, Mathabatha are part of a faction within a faction in the Ramaphosa grouping. 

The two leaders have been endorsed by the Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. They have made attempts to ingratiate themselves with Ramaphosa but this seems to have been rebuffed by the president’s closest allies. 

Gungubele and Hanekom are leading Ramaphosa’s campaign team in the ANC elections race.

One provincial leader said there must be a discussion about national leaders who they called “out of touch” with the ANC branches. “There is clearly a disconnect in what we as provinces tell them is the reality on the ground and what they perceive. It’s been discussed by some of us that national leaders have very little grasp of what is happening in regions. That it does not find expression in the so-called finalised lists tells you that there is a disconnect between them and us.”  

Responses from Hanekom, Gungubele, Mchunu, Motshekga will be added once they are received.