‘Job done with precision and distinction’: ANCYL 100% behind chair Mathabatha

The Limpopo ANC Youth League has vowed to rally behind ANC provincial chair Stan Mathabatha at the party’s national elective conference in December.

The league’s position comes after rumours that Mathabatha has been lobbied to contest for the position of party national chair.

This has sparked a serious debate in the province, with many asking what will happen if Mathabatha contest for a position in the top six of the ANC.

Yesterday, the Youth League said whatever Mathabatha decides, it would rally behind him 100%.

“Since 2012, Mathabatha has united the ANC in the province, which was divided down the middle,” the league’s Limpopo coordinator, Tonny Rachoene, said.

“And to show his election in 2014 and 2018 as ANC provincial chair was not a fluke, he was re-elected for a third term with a big margin at the weekend. We think he has done his job with precision and distinction over the years. Now the ANC in Limpopo speaks with one voice and his administration has also done well. Proof of which is in the Auditor General’s report.”

Rachoene said the league wanted to assure Mathabatha that he has its backing on whatever he decides to do about his political future. The South African Communist Party (SACP) had a different view on the matter though.

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The party – part of the tripartite alliance with the ANC and Cosatu – said it was concerned about Limpopo’s sluggish economy, which it said resulted in the perpetuation of unemployment, poverty and poor education.

SACP spokesperon Charlie Nkadimeng said the party “would not pat Mathabatha on the back because issues such as poor water provision, bad road infrastructure, poor matric pass rate, poverty and unemployment, still topped the list of problems faced by the province, 10 years after his appointment as premier.

“We may not want to entangle the SACP into who gets elected and where but we are the right organisation to gauge his work during his administration,” said Nkadimeng.

Mathabatha said he was focusing on the job at hand.

“I need to put it on record that I am currently focused on my new mandate as a re-elected chairperson of Limpopo. Anything to do with national conference does not arise at this point,” Mathabatha said.

“This as you are all well aware, because the NEC hasn’t even open the process as yet. Therefore, I do not wish to enter into this discussion at this point in time until the NEC [national executive committee] pronounces otherwise.”