Celani Sikhakhane
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane has used a cabinet reshuffle to get rid of those who contested his re-election at the recent ANC provincial conference.
Mabuyane, who is widely being punted as a running mate of President Cyril Ramaphosa, has done what Ramaphosa opposes in other provinces: purging political opponents.
Former Public Works MEC Babalo Madikizela, who led a powerful campaign to unseat Mabuyane, played into the premier’s hands when he resigned from his position.
This gave Mabuyane an opportunity to get rid of supporters of the so-called Radical Economic Transformation forces, an ANC faction dedicated to protecting embattled former president Jacob Zuma.
Mabuyane removed his known political nemesis, Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe, who was previously accused of using a guesthouse owned by her daughter to quarantine Covid-19 patients. She was also accused of misusing the guesthouse for the activities of her department for the whole year.
She was further accused of pocketing money meant for the mass funeral of victims of a Centane bus accident.
Her husband remains embroiled in a R1.6 million Covid-19 tender fraud case involving the EC Department of Education.
Tikana-Gxothiwe also bet on the wrong horse (Madikizela) at the recent ANC provincial conference.
The reshuffling saw the biggest supporters of Mabuyane being rewarded with cabinet posts but Mabuyane refutes those claims.
“This is necessitated that I undertake an intense process of finding a long-term solution of filling the vacancy to the conclusion of this term. In doing so, I also had to consider the fact that we are halfway through the term of the sixth administration which is more like the second half of a soccer match,” said Mabuyane during a media briefing in Bhisho.
The new MECs in the cabinet are Zolile Williams, who will take over as MEC for Cogta, Bukiwe Fanta, who is the new MEC for Social Development and Ntombovuyo Nkopane who is the new MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure.
MEC Xolile Nqata was moved from Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to Transport and Community Safety; Nonceba Kontsiwe from Human Settlements to Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture and Siphokazi Mani-Lusithi moved from Social Development to Human Settlements.
