Letter from Mount Frere: Zukile Majova takes a look at Mzwandile Masina’s re-election, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s latest political headache.
Mzwandile Masina’s re-election for a third term as the regional chairperson of the ANC in Ekurhuleni confirms that the ongoing plot in the ANC to unseat President Cyril Ramaphosa has gained momentum in recent weeks.
Masina’s disdain for Ramaphosa is well documented.
In the run-up to the ANC elective conference in Nasrec in 2017, he backed Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in a two-horse race against Ramaphosa.
He said at the time: “If Nkosazana loses, white people will lead SA. I will not be part of it. I will not be mayor of Ekurhuleni.”
Masina is also openly campaigning for the return of suspended ANC secretary general Ace Magashule to his powerful position despite Magashule’s implication in the R250 million asbestos scandal in the Free State.
Masina clutched victory in what Premier David Makhura described as a conference that resembled a tug of war.
Delegates spent two days of the three-day conference fighting about credentials which were finally adopted on the last day.
Masina won by 163 votes to Doctor Xhakaza’s 151 votes.
An additional 19 votes are said to be quarantined until a verification process is concluded by a national organising committee.
The results of the Ekurhuleni conference are expected to influence other regional conferences in Gauteng and ultimately decide which faction of the ANC will rule the country’s economic hub.
Last week, the newly elected leadership of the Musa Dladla region wasted no time but went straight to Nkandla to visit former president Jacob Zuma and assure him of their support in all his legal and political challenges.
They vowed they will convince the National Executive Committee to reverse its decision of discouraging ANC members from officially supporting Zuma in his corruption trial.
The ANC is due to hold its elective conference in December when the Ramaphosa faction will be fighting for the president to get a second term and continue with his programme of getting rid of politicians and officials implicated in the looting of government departments and state-owned enterprises during the Zuma years.
Image source: Jacaranda FM
