Secretary-General of the ANC Fikile Mbalula has announced plans to reconfigure the ANC in KZN and Gauteng. Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers.
The ANC has announced plans to reconfigure its leadership structures in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), but vowed that the changes will not affect the government leadership in the two provinces.
This means that Gauteng Premier and provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi will retain his position.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula made the announcement on Monday at a press briefing, following a meeting of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) in Birchwood in Boksburg over the weekend.
Mbalula explained that the reconfiguration is aimed at strengthening the party's leadership in the two provinces, which have been under performing.
"The state of the organisation in all provinces requires urgent action," Mbalula said.
"We had to take a deep dive to say, 'how do we arrest the possibility of a total demise?' In KZN, you can use the term decimation. We are totally decimated,” Mbalula said.
He said the ANC's constitution would guide the reconfiguration and would not interfere with government work in the two provinces.
He also clarified that the changes will not affect the government leadership, including Lesufi's position as premier of Gauteng.
"The government will not be tampered with. It will remain the way it is. We are going to tamper with the ANC leadership within the framework of the ANC constitution," Mbalula said.
The reconfiguration is expected to involve changes to the top five leadership positions in the two provinces.
Mbalula said that national officials will bring a proposal on the reconfiguration of the leadership in KZN and Gauteng to the National Working Committee within a week.
The decision to reconfigure the leadership in both provinces was not taken lightly, Mbalula said.
He said that many members of the NEC had presented their views on the matter, and that the decision was ultimately aimed at strengthening the party's leadership in the two provinces.
The ANC's decision to reconfigure its leadership in Gauteng and KZN comes after the party suffered significant losses in last year's national and provincial elections. In KZN, the ANC lost its majority, while in Gauteng, the party's voter support fell to 35%.
Both Lesufi and ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo were unavailable for comment.
A source within the party said there was more to this decision. Last month reports were rife that Mbalula was eyeing the position of president at the party’s next elections and Lesufi could be seen as standing in his way.
It is believed that deputy president Paul Mashatile also wants to ascend to the presidency position while lobbying Lesufi to be his deputy, which would make it difficult for Mbalula to be the number one citizen.
“This way Mbalula clips Lesufi’s wings and he has no more power to wield…this paves the way for Mbalula. However he must be careful because Lesufi has massive support in the province. Dislodging him will not be easy,” the source said.
Cape Times