The ANC has made sweeping changes to leadership in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal as part of the plan to reconfigure the two provinces to halt the party’s electoral decline.
The national working committee (NWC) meeting held in Cape Town on Monday dissolved the provincial executive committees of both provinces, meaning KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng will be led by provincial task teams.
TimesLIVE understands that former Gauteng chair Panyaza Lesufi has been appointed co-convener alongside Amos Masondo. Former MP Hope Papo takes over as co-ordinator while deputy provincial secretary Tasneem Motara has been appointed fundraiser. Ntombi Mekgwe’s name was rejected for the position.
Masondo is former chair of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in parliament, a position he held between 2019 and 2024. He is also a former executive mayor of the City of Johannesburg.
The ANC NEC last year decided to ‘reconfigure’ leadership in the two provinces after their dismal performance in the May national and provincial elections
Papo is a former MP who served as parliamentary counsellor to the leader of government business between 2019 and 2024. He is also a former Gauteng provincial secretary and held the position of MEC for health in the province.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC’s former head of policy, ex-minister Jeff Radebe, will take over as convener of the provincial task team while Mike Mabuyakhulu has been appointed co-ordinator. Provincial chair Siboniso Duma will be deputy convener.
Mabuyakhulu is a former ANC KwaZulu-Natal deputy chairperson.
This means the provincial secretaries of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, TK Nciza and Bheki Mtolo, have been cast aside.
“Those ones are out. They are additional. They will remain full time dealing with monitoring and evaluation of local government,” said an insider.
“They won’t have any powers because they will have to report to the provincial co-ordinator,” the senior ANC leader said.
The sweeping changes are expected to be communicated to provincial executive structures in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng by secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday afternoon. Mbalula has sent a letter, seen by TimesLIVE, calling for a virtual meeting with the provincial executive committees and national executive committee conveners at 5pm.
The ANC NEC last year decided to “reconfigure” leadership in the two provinces after their dismal performance in the May national and provincial elections.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC won only 17.2% of the vote to take third place. It is now part of a coalition led by the IFP.
In Gauteng the ANC received 34.5% of votes — 19 percentage points down on 2019 — and formed a government with the help of smaller parties, excluding the DA.
A senior party leader said the new leadership structures in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were reconfigured in this manner to ensure there was no victor between deputy president Paul Mashatile and secretary-general Mbalula.
The leader said deputy secretary-general Maropene Ramokgopa was the power broker who brought the middle way in the NWC meeting.
Ramokgopa, a staunch ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, is said to have worked behind the scenes to ensure the outcome of the reconfiguration does not “undermine” Ramaphosa’s power.
An insider said: “It’s a middle ground so there’s no-one who can claim to have won. The president is in charge, he is at the centre of everything. Mashatile and Mbalula cannot claim to have won this round. Not even Gwede [Mantashe].”
TimesLIVE
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