Pretoria - The job of North West Premier Bushy Maape is safe for now despite losing his battle to become the ANC provincial chairperson to the incumbent Nono Maloyi.
This was confirmed by Maloyi yesterday when he addressed the media about the outcome of his party’s first provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting, which ended in Sun City, Rustenburg, yesterday.
Maloyi was answering media questions about the future of Maape in the North West legislature after ANC members in Gauteng decided to recall Premier David Makhura.
However, that was hampered after it was found that the party’s Gauteng executive apparently failed to follow proper procedures before making such a decision.
As a result, Makhura would stay on for now, but has already indicated his intention to hand over the baton.
Insiders told Independent Media that the Gauteng ANC leadership had also failed to communicate its decision to the top leadership of the ANC, particularly President Cyril Ramaphosa, who appoints premiers in ANC-led provinces.
In the North West, however, Maloyi said that the future of Maape as premier was “not on the agenda of the provincial executive committee”.
Maloyi also confirmed that his party would be defending a legal challenge in the Constitutional Court, in which five aggrieved members have asked the court to declare the election of his PEC “unlawful and unconstitutional”.
The application to the Concourt followed a failed application in the Mahikeng High Court on August 25, in which five members – Lebogang Medupe, Lesego Serapelwane, Puso Moeng, Sello Molefe and Itumeleng Moswane – asked the court to interdict the conference, but failed due to lack of urgency.
This prompted the applicants to approach the Concourt on an urgent basis, asking that the decision of the ANC national executive committee to take over the control of the provincial conference on August 13 and 14 be declared unlawful and unconstitutional.
“That it be declared that the ANC’s 9th provincial conference of the North West that took place on August 12-14, 2022, and subsequently postponed to August 26-28 is held in violation of the ANC constitution and that the provincial conference, its decisions/resolutions and/or outcomes are unlawful and be set aside,” Medupe argued in his founding affidavit.
The aggrieved members also want the Concourt to order the ANC to appoint an interim provincial committee in terms of the ANC constitution pending the election of a lawfully constituted PEC.
The ANC has until Friday to file its answering affidavit. “We have already filed our notice to oppose the application. We are busy with our answering affidavit. But they will have to prove urgency before the Constitutional Court grants them permission to hear the merits of the case. We will be defending the case,” Maloyi said.
He also told the media that his executive has managed to bring stability at Ditsobotla Local Municipality in Lichtenburg which had two mayors, two speakers and two municipal managers.
Maloyi said Meisie Mokgothu has been re-elected as mayor, and Mpho Lebaka was speaker, saying the municipal manager would be seconded to the municipality to bring stability.
He also said plans were made to place Kagisano-Molopo Local Municipality under administration after councillors also fought over positions in that municipality which led to conflicts similar to those at Ditsobotla Municipality.
Maloyi announced that stability was also restored at the Christiana and Madibeng Local Municipality in Brits after ANC councillors wanted to remove their own party’s members as mayors in those two respective municipalities. “We are on a programme of rebuilding and uniting the ANC,” Maloyi said.
Pretoria News