Limpopo ANC bigwigs not back in office yet

LIMPOPO – Two Limpopo ANC bigwigs who have been reinstated to their positions by the national executive committee of the ANC after nearly two years of suspension for allegedly having benefitted from VBS Mutual Bank, will have to wait a while longer before they re-occupy their offices at the province’s ANC head-quarters in Polokwane.

This revelation was made by ANC National Chairperson, Gwede Mantashe during an SABC interview yesterday. Mantashe said the two, Deputy ANC Provincial Chairperson, Florence Radzilani and Treasurer Danny Msiza will have to wait until the completion of consultations and engagements with the relevant structures, including the Limpopo ANC leadership, before they could officially be allowed to return to work.

Mantashe’s statements come a day after the party’s General-Secretary, Ace Magashule told the media at Luthuli House on Wednesday that the NEC of the ANC believed it was only fair to reinstate the two senior officials after two years of failing to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that they benefitted from the now defunct VBS bank.

“The ANC NEC has decided to reinstate the Limpopo ANC deputy provincial chairperson and the party’s treasurer into their respective positions with immediate effect. But the reinstatement will be preceded by engagements with the relevant structures and leaders in Limpopo, led by the national executive committee,” said Magashule.

This was further affirmed by Limpopo ANC Provincial Secretary, Soviet Lekganyane who said the province accepted the ruling by the party’s national leadership.

“It is always the norm in the ANC that a lower structure is abided by the decisions of the upper structure. The officials will not immediately report for duty. They still have to wait for the completion of engagements and consultations with the relevant structures, including the leaders of the ANC in the province before the next move,” he said.

The ANC’s Peter Mokaba Regional Chairperson, John Mpe, however, said these consultations were just a formality. “I am on cloud nine that our two leaders are back in office. I believe and hope that the ANC in Limpopo will be united again and increase its membership. You cannot continue to put democratically elected leaders of Africa’s oldest movement out in the cold just because you have a political vendetta against them. If we say they are criminals, maybe we must start pointing out how much they stole. If we fail, then it means we do not understand the notion of one is innocent until proven guilty by the court of law,” he said.

Mpe, who once organised a protest march at Luthuli House in Johannesburg, pleading for the lifting of the suspension, said the VBS saga was being used by some in the province who have an ulterior political agenda.

Other ANC provincial leaders, however, disagreed.
Masilo Maloko said the reinstatement of these officials was an insult not only to the victims of VBS but to the general public. Maloko, who is from the Phisela Branch of the ANC in Tzaneen in the Mopani region said the move had the potential to cost the ANC potential votes in the coming elections.

SACP Provincial Spokesperson, Machike Thobejane described the reinstatement as the “biggest blunder the ANC has made in a millennium”, while EFF Provincial Leader, Jossey Buthane said it will be a shame for the people of Limpopo to continue voting for the ANC.

“They say they fight corruption, but all mayors and municipal managers fired for looting the bank have now been rewarded with good jobs accompanied by fat salaries at the Limpopo Legislature or appointed as managers in government parastatals. So, it is clear that those who continue to vote for the ANC, do so at their own peril,” he said.