Change of guard in Free State: Final nail in Magashule’s coffin?

New ANC Free State provincial chair Mxolisi Dukwana, arch-rival of former ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, marks the end of an era of dominance of the province by Magashule.

ANC Free State conference

The province was not only wrested from Magashule’s political spell, but it was also an emphatic symbol that President Cyril Ramaphosa was in full control of the province.

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From yesterday, Dukwana occupied a position monopolised by Magashule for two decades, during which he annihilated his opponents, mainly Dukwana, whom he fired from his provincial Cabinet.

Dukwana defeated Sisi Ntombela, a former MEC under Magashule who for the last few years had been deputy to Dukwana in the ANC provincial interim committee (IPC) that was replaced by the elected provincial executive committee (PEC) yesterday.

Dukwana received 346 votes against Ntombela’s 306 in the results for the top five officer bearers.

Top five officials

The rest of the office bearers were Toto Makume, who got 346, beating Thabo Manyoni who received 307 votes. For provincial secretary Poleliso Motsoeneng (349) beat Paseka Nompondo (303), Dibolelo Mahlatsi (348) defeated Kenalemang (301) to become deputy secretary, while Mathabo Leeto became the new provincial treasurer, with 346 votes to Vusi Tshabalala’s 304.

The election of the remaining 30 additional members of the provincial executive committee was expected to be finished last night and the results expected later.

The victory by Dukwana meant changes in the Free State Cabinet were imminent.

The province might follow the KwaZulu-Natal route by removing Ntombela as premier and replacing her with Dukwana, while Ntombela becomes an MEC.

The KZN leadership fired former premier Sihle Zikalala and put Nomusa Dube-Ncube in his place. Free State could also take the route of the North West ANC, which, instead of removing premier Bushy Maape as premier, appointed the new ANC chair, Nono Moloyi, as MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs.

Dukwana may prefer to remain as MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs under Ntombela, but may be under pressure from his camp to take over the premiership.

Dukwana’s political report

In his political report earlier, Dukwana said the success of the Free State conference was a “victory against the criminal network who had arrogated itself the position of defining the strategic direction of our movement internally and in government”.

“Indeed, this marks the start of the new colossal struggle for a people-centred organisation which is driven purely by the ideals of the Freedom Charter and achievement of the national democratic revolution,” he said.

Political analyst from the University of the Free State professor Sethulego Matebesi, whose prediction that Dukwana would win was vindicated, said it’s going to be a tough task for the new PEC to unite the ANC in the province.

“If Dukwana and his elected member forsake the political arrogance and work on uniting the two sides, that, for me, will be the starting point.

“But if he gets rid of his opponents that will be a problem. This is a glorious opportunity to unite with his opponents and to get rid of the legacy of the old ANC leadership in this province. There will be certainty in leadership and the process of moving forward,” Matebesi said.

As the Free State was the birthplace of the ANC, the new leadership should make ANC discipline the bedrock of the party.

“Take action against members who are ill-disciplined and MECs who do not perform,” Matebesi said.

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa closed the meeting last night, emphasising unity and renewal of the party and governance.

Ntombela’s supporters vowed to approach the court to challenge the outcomes of the ANC provincial conference, but Ntombela herself was non-committal.

She said she heard her followers were disputing the figure of 650 for voting delegates adopted used at the conference.

The premier said while she was not prepared to take the ANC to court, she was still interested to know why the numbers did not tally. She asked that the new leadership concentrate on ANC unity.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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