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An alleged intervention by three ANC heavyweights has given Parks Tau an advantage in his bid to become Gauteng’s number two.
City Press has learnt that acting provincial chairperson and Premier David Makhura, together with ANC head of presidency Zizi Kodwa, dissuaded some of the candidates aligned with deputy chairperson hopeful Lebogang Maile from contesting two key positions at last week’s Johannesburg elective conference.
Justice Ngalonkulu and Mike Maile had been tipped for the positions of chairperson and secretary, respectively, by supporters of Lebogang. They were set to face-off with newly elected regional chairperson Geoff Makhubo and Dada Morero.
City Press insiders alleged that Makhura – and Kodwa – who was there in his capacity as former leader of the region, blocked the ambitions of the two men, much to the disappointment of some of the delegates who wanted to break Tau’s monopoly in the region.
Tau, the former Johannesburg regional chairperson, is believed to have the backing of the newly elected officials and the entire region in his quest to ascend to provincial level. This after he declined a chance to join the national executive committee of the ANC ahead of the party’s elective conference in Nasrec. The former mayor also is believed to have the backing of Makhura, who is expected to be elected chairperson in the upcoming Gauteng provincial conference.
The election of Ngalonkulu and Mike Maile would have put a dent in what is overwhelming support for Tau in the region, and bolstered Lebogang’s campaign to become deputy chairperson of the province.
However, ANC Gauteng spokesperson Motalatale Modiba dismissed the claims of interference to quell contestation as “nothing but malicious gossip”.
“These kinds of allegations tend to gain momentum around conferences. It is important to point out that the ANC Gauteng province is very happy with the maximum unity demonstrated by the ANC branches at the [Johannesburg] regional conference.
“They did so out of their own accord, based on the understanding that ‘unity is the bedrock upon which the ANC was founded’. To suggest otherwise is an insult to the branches of the ANC in the region and to the conference as a whole,” said Modiba.
Makhura, who has denied any underhand manoeuvrings on his part and insisted that he was merely doing his job, has used platforms at regional conferences to preach unity among members.
On Friday, Makhura warned branches at the two-day Sedibeng regional conference against bitterly contesting each other.
“If we emerge from this conference divided and we fight and contest as if there is no tomorrow, and we deal with each other as if we don’t belong to one organisation, then the struggles of our people will be set back,” he said
In another plot twist, City Press heard of plans to overturn the newly elected leaders of the Johannesburg region.
The group wanting to pull off the unlikely upset was arguing that voting happened late after some delegates had already gone home.
It is understood that their gripe lies with additional regional executive committee members who were elected, but have no problems with the top five.
The disgruntled group was hoping to rally support around a move to hold elections again on Saturday, when delegates gathered again for commissions.
A delegate who was present when voting got under way last weekend said there was no provision in the constitution that could bar members from requesting that processes, including that voting be rerun given that some of the delegates had left the venue when voting took place.
“The conference has not ended, it is a continuation from last week and so nothing stops us from raising the issue on the floor to say let’s start the process all over again,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ANC in Gauteng announced that it was on track to have its provincial conference on July 20 to 22.
City Press has learnt that there is a possibility of Panyaza Lesufi and Tau, who are both vying to be deputy chairperson, working together before the provincial conference.
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