“We are in Tripoli now, this is Tripoli!” shouted a young member of the ANC just moments after the results announcing Mandla Ndlovu as the successor to David “DD” Mabuza were delivered.
Ndlovu is the newly elected ANC chairperson in Mpumalanga.
“Liberation is here,” the young man could be heard shouting as the conference centre erupted into cheers as Ndlovu and the rest of his slate did a clean sweep of the top five positions in the province.
The other contenders were all nominated from the floor and met the 25% threshold for the successful nomination – for a moment giving the impression that the conference was not as clear cut as initially thought.
Tripoli is the Libyan capital which, along with most cities in the oil-rich country, has been unstable since the toppling and killing of authoritarian leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
But the reference to Tripoli, this past weekend, has to do with the 2020 battle for control of the capital city which involved the forces of renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar and forces loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).
In the end, the GNA forces, which included the country’s youth managed to wrest control and drive out the military strongman who wanted to become Libya’s ruler.
Hours before the shouts of “Tripoli” at Emalahleni, a group of young men had addressed the so-called “focus” lobby group, giving a line of march to the Ndlovu-aligned conference delegates.
“The enemy is one and the destination is freedom. We want to liberate ourselves and revive the ANC in Mpumalanga,” was the message delivered on the night.
‘SPONSORING INSTABILITY’
The liberation spoken about was a veiled reference to Mabuza’s stranglehold over the province. Despite being elected as the ANC deputy president in December 2017, Mpumalanga has not had a permanent leadership since.
Mabuza has been accused of sponsoring the instability in the province and ruling from the proverbial grave.
Ndlovu was once seen as the anointed successor to Mabuza but has since fallen out with the deputy president.
Saturday evening’s nominations from the floor were seen as the Mabuza-aligned grouping’s attempt to put up a fight but to the determined young ANC activists, it was seen as a scare tactic.
After a physical headcount of “loyal” delegates ahead of the vote, the “focus” grouping’s lobbyists were reassured of the “freedom”, from Mabuza, that lay ahead.
Caucuses of the different factions were a continued feature of the first day of conference with national executive committee (NEC) deployees, who were sent as reinforcements to the province, holding several meetings of their own as they sought to bring the two feuding groups together.
“These people are not enemies, they are divided on just one thing, the Cat. They don’t hate one another. We were hoping to help them find a unity slate at least, find one another but their attitudes have hardened,” one NEC member told Eyewitness News on the sidelines of the conference.
The Cat is Mabuza’s moniker in political circles – a reference to the times he had allegedly survived poisoning and assassination attempts.
Mpumalanga has struggled to hold an elective conference since 2015, where it elected Mabuza as provincial chair.
‘THE FINAL NAIL’
In political circles the outcome in Emalahleni signaled the end of Mabuza’s continued reign over the province.
“You might as well describe this as the final nail in DD’s coffin,” another NEC member said to Eyewitness News.
Another senior leader of the ANC also blamed the continued tensions in the province on Mabuza, saying the deputy president’s decision to pick sides among the bickering groups of people who were all once loyal to him, had brought the province to this point.
“The youth league has done a great job starting this battle. They went around arguing that the province can’t suffer from a one-man syndrome. It looks like all their efforts have paid off,” remarked the NEC member.
But for some in the province, the rise of the youth in Mpumalanga is closely linked to the ambitions of Justice and Correctional services minister Ronald Lamola, who has been touted by some in the ANC, as the ideal candidate for the deputy presidency of the ANC.
“Those boys are doing this for Ronald. Mandla is close to him, they are all from Bush (Bushbuck Ridge), and likely he will try move the province in Lamola’s favour,” said a senior party member in the province.
Even Ndlovu acknowledged the role of young people in the political developments in the province, telling Eyewitness News that his victory came through a fight and not a seamless handover of power.
“There is no person that’s going to give the youth responsibility on a silver platter. Comrade [Nelson] Mandela around the 40s fought, they pushed themselves into structures of the ANC, while respecting the ANC processes, I am happy with what is happening here in the province,” said Ndlovu.
“I can see that the youth are now occupying key positions… they are where they are supposed to be,” he added.
Ndlovu scored 440 votes, while his opponent Lucky Ndinisa managed to get 278.
ALL EYES TRAINED ON NATIONAL ELECTIVE CONFERENCE
The weekend’s sitting is also the first of the ANC provincial conferences as it prepares for its next national elective conference, in December.
The newly elected chair has already made his position clear, throwing his weight behind President Cyril Ramaphosa to continue leading the governing party for a second term.
On Saturday Ndlovu defended his position, saying Ramaphosa doesn’t have the luxury of determining what he wants to do but must instead take his lead from branches of the ANC.
“I stand by that message to say if there is a call by branches [Ramaphosa] must accept. He is a member of the ANC, he can’t just decide on his future,” said Ndlovu.
The Eastern Cape will be the next province to hold an elective conference.
-EWN
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