Cyril folded in the face of ANCWL demands on Bathabile Dlamini

The demand by ANC alliance partners for proper consultation and the ANC Women’s League’s (ANCWL) insistence that its president, Bathabile Dlamini, be included in the Cabinet nearly frustrated the announcement of the new executive council on Monday night.

President Cyril Ramaphosa had to postpone the live broadcast, which was initially scheduled for 8.30pm, to 9.30pm and then had to delay it by a further 30 minutes while negotiating with the SA Communist Party (SACP) and trade union federation Cosatu.

An ANC NEC source said the partners demanded better consultation instead of a last-minute approach and objected to the retention of Malusi Gigaba, a minister associated with state capture.

“It was clear that the SACP was not consulted timeously as, by late Monday, the party had publicly told journalists it was waiting to be consulted on the reshuffle. Yet ANC officials had already decided on this matter,” the source said.

Despite Ramaphosa’s initial resistance, the ANCWL insisted that Dlamini be part of the Cabinet, the source said. They provided no alternative name, giving the president no choice but to take Dlamini.

After agreeing on the reshuffle within the ANC top six, Ramaphosa had the task to convince the alliance partners to accept the decision, but they were unhappy being at the tailend of the discussion.

Although Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla yesterday denied the federation contributed to the delay, it was clear from statements they issued that the partners complained about the decision being only an ANC one.

“The federation has made it very clear to the president that we expect qualitative consultation going forward and not a by-the-way arrangement,” Pamla said. “We hope to see an improvement in line with the reconfiguration of the alliance.”

Both Cosatu and the SACP were opposed to the inclusion of Dlamini and Gigaba. Both previously asked former president Jacob Zuma to fire Dlamini over the social grants saga.

Cosatu said the reshuffles should be based on principles such as integrity, competency, bias towards the working class, decisiveness and capacity to implement radical socio-economic transformation.

“We remain very uncomfortable with the recycling of ministers though; it does not make sense for those ministers accused of corruption to be shifted around the Cabinet, instead of being fired,” it said.

The SACP in particular expressed concern at the failure to get rid of the state capture network in the executive completely.

“The SACP reiterates its strong opposition to state capture and other forms of corruption.”

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