ANC BACKS RESHUFFLE

In a move aimed at bolstering the province’s national influence ,the FS ANC has deployed former finance MEC to parliament

The ANC in the Free State is set to use the recent cabinet reshuffle as a catalyst to speed up its long term goal of increasing the province’s influence and representation in the national structures of both party and government.

The plan involves sending senior leaders of the province to parliament and possibly national cabinet, as well as increasing its representation in the ruling party’s national executive committee (NEC) and national working committee (NWC).

The provincial cabinet reshuffle saw former finance MEC, Seiso Mohai, who was replaced by long-serving provincial director-general, Elsabe Rockman, redeployed to Cape Town where he will assume his parliamentary responsibilities as a lawmaker. He was replaced by long serving director-general, Elsabe Rockman.

Former Bloemwater CEO, Dr. Benny Malakoane took over as health MEC replacing the late Fezi Ngubentombi.
Free State ANC spokesperson, Oupa Khoabane, told The Weekly that the provincial executive committee (PEC) is concerned about the low representation and waning influence of the province in the national cabinet as well as top ANC structures.

The Free State province is represented in cabinet by sports and recreation minister, Fikile Mbalula; two deputy ministers, Thandi Vivian Tobias-Pokolo of the department of trade and industry, as well as Solomon Lechesa Tsenoli of the department of rural development and land reform.

This is in stark contrast to other provinces such as Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo, Gauteng and even the Northern Cape, which all have significantly higher representation in cabinet as well as in the ANC NEC and NWC. KwaZulu-Natal has nine ministers, Limpopo four, Gauteng four and the Northern Cape has three ministers and one deputy minister in cabinet.

The Free State is represented by only two people in the NEC. They are MEC for public works, Sisi Mabe and provincial Cosatu chairperson, Sam Mashinini. This is an extremely low figure, compared to other provinces.

Mabe serves on the powerful NWC, which is responsible for running the party in between conferences. She also serves in the communication and media as well as legislature and governance sub-committees of the NEC.
Mashinini serves in the political education subcommittee. Mabe is an NEC deployee to the Northern Cape while Mashinini was posted to the Eastern Cape.

The low representation of the Free State ANC in the NEC is also a direct result of the disbandment of the PEC led by Premier Ace Magashule, a day before the commencement of the 53rd national elective conference in Mangaung in December last year.

This followed a ruling by the Constitutional Court, which declared the provincial conference which elected the PEC in June last year null and void, following a legal challenge of its legitimacy by members of the Regime Change group.
Khoabane said the party endorses the reshuffling which, besides seeking to strengthen governance in the province, also endeavours to place senior ANC provincial leaders in a better position to hold high positions in the national government.

“This is a strategic move in line with our resolutions as the PEC. We have decided that we need to send senior comrades to the national assembly to occupy strategic positions in the portfolio committees of parliament and be better positioned to be deployed in the national cabinet when opportunities arise.

“We want these comrades to improve oversight at a national level, while bettering our chances of having a minister directly from the Free State,” said Khoabane.

He said the current weak representation of the province in the national party and government structures is not a true reflection of the strength and influence of the province within the ANC.

“We have only one minister and two deputy ministers from the province despite having many hard-working and qualified comrades who can fit well in those positions. Comrade Mohai is not just an ordinary person in the politics of the ANC and the province; he is a senior leader with good qualities. We believe that he stands a better chance of assuming higher positions in government at national level.”

Khoabane said the party has decided to send Mohai to parliament due to his previous stint as a MP in the national assembly.

“He was elected as Member of Parliament following the 1999 general elections and served in that position until 2001. In the national assembly, he served in a number of portfolio committees, namely education, communications and public service and administration,” said Khoabane.

Mohai was redeployed from the national assembly to the Free State legislature in 2001, where he held the position as chief whip of the ANC in the provincial legislature. He later became a member of the legislature’s public accounts committee until 2004.

After the 2009 general elections, he was appointed the MEC for finance. He was also the chairperson of the governance and human settlement cluster for the Free State government.

Mohai’s political involvement, leadership and work experience in the ANC and the youth movement are also evidenced by the fact that he was appointed by the NEC of the ANC in 2000, to serve in the provincial Interim Leadership Core (ILC) of the ANC in the Free State. His responsibilities in the ILC included being the convener of the Motheo region.

In 1998, he was elected to the NEC of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) and also served in the NWC as the national secretary for governance and legislative affairs until 2001. He has also served as an ex-officio member of the ANC PEC since 2002; first by virtue of being the ANC chief whip in the provincial legislature and thereafter an MEC since 2004.

Khoabane told The Weekly that the PEC in the province will henceforth strongly lobby for senior provincial leaders to occupy seats in top ANC and government structures.

“We have some of the best brains in the movement right here in the province. They are seasoned and experienced comrades whose skills can benefit the country and the movement nationally. We want to make sure they are deployed in higher structures of the movement and state.

“The Free State must be proud to have produced national leaders,” asserted Khoabane.