Paul Mashatile calls for rapid clean-up of North West while fast-tracking ANC electoral campaign

The North West’s ninth provincial conference held at the weekend was the first ANC elective conference this year not to be closed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.    

Instead, it was closed by Paul Mashatile, current treasurer and acting secretary general who is said to have his eyes on the deputy president position when the party heads to the December conference.  

Mashatile’s deputy president bid appears to be consolidated in the province as his ally, Nono Maloyi was elected chairperson of the province two weeks ago. The last leg of the conference saw a number of his supporters get nominated and elected as additional members of the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC). 

The party has so far held its seven provincial conferences except in the Western Cape which is due to be held this weekend and Free State whose date is yet to be announced. 

The North West conference was marred by illegalities even at the eleventh hour, internal disputes and criminality which all led to major delays, so significant that the conference had to be held in two parts. 

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-15-chaotic-anc-north-west-conference-ends-without-completing-critical-tasks/

In its first leg two weeks ago, the conference elected the top five leadership and this past weekend, it concluded its business as it elected 30 additional PEC  members, and presented and adopted critical reports ahead of the December conference.   

The second leg was no different as it too was marred by litigation and protest action outside the Rustenburg Civic Centre, where more than 1,000 voting and non-voting delegates converged.  

On Thursday, a group of disgruntled members took to the Mahikeng high court with the hopes to halt the second leg of the conference and nullify the results of the first leg. The court dismissed the application with costs — a move which NEC deployee to the province, Obed Bapela welcomed.   

The group later threatened to approach the highest court in the land, the Constitutional Court, on serving the national leadership with its papers; they were first ordered to pay the costs, which Bapela said was a significant amount.  

“The ANC said it's fine, but because you are owing us from Mahikeng, you must first pay our lawyers.”  

It has since emerged that the group has not been able to pay the costs.   

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-22-paul-mashatile-accused-of-staging-coup-in-fresh-court-bid-to-interdict-second-leg-of-anc-north-west-conference/

Mashatile’s boost? 

The conference elected 30 additional members of the PEC, 20 of which are women. Mashatile lauded the move, saying the party's future was bright.   

This despite the fact that only a single woman was elected in the top five, Viola Motsumi who was elected to the position of deputy provincial secretary.

“You have made history as the North West, it is for the first time in the history of the ANC that 20 members of the elected PEC are females.”  

The majority of those who made it to the PEC list, are believed to be staunch supporters of Mashatile.  

Meanwhile, among those who did not make it to the list was Ramaphosa’s ally the incumbent premier Bushy Maape who went head to head with newly elected chairperson, Nono Maloyi, a known ally of Mashatile.   

Maape declined nomination to be elected as an additional member. 

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Mashatile applauded the conference’s steering committee for successfully organising and coordinating the conference which saw the election of leadership after three years under the leadership of an interim structure.  

Unity  

He called on the newly elected leadership to unite the party, particularly those who lost elections and the aggrieved members that had taken the party to court. 

“We cannot build the ANC in the courts,” he told delegates.  

Mashatile said one of the urgent tasks which the current leadership faces is to improve service delivery and disband factions, “if there are any” amid electoral decline which needs to be arrested ahead of the 2024 general elections.    

Declining electoral support

This comes as the party failed to garner 50% of the votes nationally in the 2021 local government elections. This led to the party losing control of a number of metros and relegated to opposition benches.   

In this regard, Mashatile admitted the party has a long way to go.  

“We have a lot of work to do to regain lost ground, especially in our key constituencies. Arguably, the 2024 elections will be the most difficult we have ever faced. However, we are confident we will rise to the challenge.”

On a poll which predicts that the party will achieve 50% of the votes in 2024, the ambitious Mashatile said the figure was not enough and urged leaders and delegates to begin with elections campaign urgently.  

“2024 is not far, I have no doubt, having been here with you that you are ready. We must go out there and win elections decisively. The election campaign starts now,” he said. 

Inaugural address  

The newly elected chairperson, Maloyi delivered his inaugural speech which appeared to be a solution-driven approach to the many problems that the province continues to grapple with.  

Among other solutions to the problems Maloyi said was political education and a clean-up of its member system which he said the province would invest heavily in and complete by the end of September.   

Organisational report

Daily Maverick is in possession of an internal organisational report which paints a frightening picture of the state of municipalities in the province. The report also indicated that gangsters received tenders and cash-in-transit criminals had been in charge of some municipalities.    

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-28-gangsters-paradise-inside-anc-north-wests-organisational-report/

The report which has since been adopted by the conference indicates many of the problems which the province grapples with are a result of a variety of factors including: 

• The lack of vetting of members, which leads to infiltration of the organisation by criminal elements e.g. indication that some branches, chairpersons and secretaries are former convicts for heists, robberies;


• Members who, constitutionally, are not eligible to get elected to leadership structures e.g. someone who has just returned from an opposition party who, within three months, is elected into a position of power; and


• Failure to keep credible membership records has opened up the organisation to court challenges, leading to the reversal of decisions and increased instability in the organisation.

Maloyi admitted that some municipalities had parallel leadership structures which would soon be a thing of the past.   

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-09-audits-in-north-west-reflect-a-worsening-culture-of-unaccountability-in-the-province/

Rogue party members 

On councillors colluding with opposition parties in council meetings and members involved in the disruption and collapsing of such meetings, Maloyi said it remained unclear if some of them had indeed been members in good standing or members of the opposition that had “hijacked” ANC structures. He emphasised the importance of cleaning up the party’s membership system.  

He alleged that some problematic members had dual party membership, including one who was a member of both the ANC and Patriotic Alliance. 

Maloyi has also indicated that the party would undertake a skills audit before the end of the 2021/22 financial year, adding that the “Christmas” of appointing unqualified members into positions was over.  DM