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A cabinet reshuffle is looming in Limpopo, with sports, arts and culture MEC Onicca Moloi likely to be fired over her Facebook messages, which have been deemed insulting to ANC leaders in the province.
City Press was told the reshuffle might also be necessitated by the death of agriculture and rural development MEC Joyce Mashamba who was buried in a provincial official funeral on Saturday.
But the sticking point remains the Facebook messages which Moloi posted on Monday just after the ANC provincial conference held in Polokwane at the weekend.
She was not elected into the provincial executive committee (PEC).
The messages were construed by some members in the top echelons of the ANC and government as being a resignation.
In one message Moloi indicated she would tender her resignation and return the “blue lights” by Friday.
She posted: “Dear Masana bishops ... Don’t worry, we will send our resignation letters and hand over your so-called ‘blue lights’ by Friday to make your job easy. We didn’t join the ANC for blue lights ... Yours Onicca Moloi.”
Masana is the name of a popular lodge in Polokwane in which senior leaders of ANC structures hang out.
It is believed Moloi got wind that she was the subject of a discussion at the lodge.
She later posted another message: “Hehehe ... Thina we know our sins. We refused to be summoned to late meetings. We refused to be told what to write on Facebook, who to greet, which party to go to and what should be our views on the regional politics of Peter Mokaba.
“But the question is why didn’t they nominate them? Those who were part and parcel of their night meetings. Those who were planning our downfall with them. Kera lena bo mmamoratwa ba masana!!! Ke polotiki nthwe! You kill with a sword, you die with a sword! Kwaa!!”
Moloi’s spokesperson, Moloko Moloto, told City Press that she has not resigned: “As far as I know she has not resigned. She is still the MEC and she is executing her duties.”
He did not want to be drawn into discussing the circumstances that prompted Moloi to post the messages: “I really wouldn’t know about that one,” he said.
But Premier Stan Mathabatha’s spokesperson, Kenny Mathivha, said the messages could be construed as “a resignation through social media, something that is unprecedented”.
“We saw the resignation on social media. This is the first time an MEC resigns this way. Normally the MEC would tender the resignation to the legislature, the ANC or the premier,” Mathivha said.
He said Mathabatha had had a busy schedule outside the office since the end of the provincial conference and had not been able to attend to the matter.
The premier did not need to reshuffle the cabinet following a resignation or death of an MEC, but might opt for a replacement.
ANC provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane was very scathing in his condemnation of the Facebook messages, describing the conduct of Moloi as “throwing a gobble of mucus at the ANC”.
Lekganyane told City Press: “The highest honour in the ANC or in any other political party is for you to be told that we want you to be a minister or president.
“You must be conscious that the party has taken you from nowhere and put you as the MEC. There is no position of MEC in her family. You will find the position of MEC only in the ANC because it has won the government. At all times you have to respect the organisation.
“That behaviour of expectorating on the ANC, insulting its
intelligence, integrity and image cannot be accepted.
“We find it very, very puerile and unthankful,” Lekganyane said.
He said Moloi should have known that she was not occupying an ordinary office in a branch or in a village where if “she speaks some people may not take her seriously”.
“In her responsibilities, she is a leader of government. Every time she speaks, people listen because they understand it is the government of the ANC speaking. Because of the position she occupies, we will not leave the matter lying down,” Lekganyane said.
He indicated that Moloi would be summoned to ANC provincial headquarters at the Frans Mohlala House to explain her conduct.
But some people in the ANC, to whom City Press spoke, expressed sympathy with Moloi, saying there had been a concerted effort to unseat her as an MEC, moving from the premise that she was not “structured”.
This means that she would not occupy any position in the provincial or regional structures of the party.
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