ANC NEC holds special meeting to decide Supra Mahumapelo's fate
30 August 2018
The ANC national executive committee (NEC) is to hold a special meeting on Thursday to decide the fate of former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo.
Mahumapelo was forced to resign as premier in May, but remained in the powerful position of provincial chair of the party.
Sources confirmed that the NEC would discuss the "chaotic state" of the province.
The NEC meeting follows national working committee members' visit to the province earlier this month to "stabilise" the party.
Mahumapelo's detractors have complained about persisting problems and placed him at the "heart" of challenges plaguing the ANC.
There have been calls from within the party for the provincial executive committee (PEC), chaired by Mahumapelo, to be disbanded.
Elections
Those pushing for Mahumapelo to go, are concerned the party could poll below 50 percent in the 2019 elections.
"Do we delay the pain or take it now?" asked an NEC member, who was concerned about the party's performance in the province at the elections.
An earlier report by the Veterans League in the North West, entitled "Unprecedented challenges facing the ANC in North West", described the PEC as dysfunctional and said ANC support was shrinking.
The report recommended that the NEC disband the PEC and that a task team be appointed. It said the task team would then rebuild structures with fresh inclusive elections held.
News24 understands there have been more reports detailing the problems that the PEC has denied.
The ANC in the North West is deeply divided, with parallel structures including regions, formed.
Removal as premier
Earlier this year, ANC members successfully pushed for Mahumapelo to be removed as premier of the province.
President Cyril Ramaphosa put the province under administration before Mahumapelo's removal. It followed weeks of violent protests calling for Mahumapelo to go.
Those who supported Mahumapelo, described the push to oust him over electoral decline concerns as a "smokescreen".
They pointed to Ipsos (a market research firm) public opinion survey results released in April, which showed that voters were uncertain ahead of 2019 elections.
However, it said that the ANC in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and the Northern Cape measured below 50% but that the North West was among four provinces where the ANC achieved an outright majority .
The ANC in the province had declined in the 2016 local government elections and fears were that a further decline in 2019 would contribute to the national tally.
'Shocking hatred in our movement'
The NEC member against the push to oust Mahumapelo said it was just a political agenda driven by "shocking hatred in our movement".
In an interview with the SABC, Mahumapelo accused some members of both the NWC and NEC of working with the private business community to disband and remove him. He said the campaign was "well funded".
"The truth is that that campaign immediately started after the [December] conference. We know their names. They were joined by some members of the NWC. We have lists of some members of the NWC, NEC and some members of Parliament and the provincial legislature, who have been attending meetings to destabilise the province," the public broadcaster quoted Mahumapelo as saying.
The one-day meeting is expected to be held in Cape Town.
