The current situation may force him to opt out of politics as Mpumalanga continues to bury him alive.
Deputy President David Mabuza would have been ANC President if he had the boldness to carry through on his vision of uniting the ANC going towards the party’s 2017 elective conference in Nasrec.
Mabuza had the numbers to become the ANC President in Nasrec and it should be this missed opportunity that is probably haunting the man who looks set to be on his way out of ANC politics as his political future is fast turning bleak ahead of the December 2022 national conference where President Cyril Ramaphosa’s allies plan to chop him off.
The country remembers Mabuza as that kingmaker from Mpumalanga who was refusing to be listed as deputy president in both NDZ and CR17 slates, lamenting that slates give birth to factionalism which “kills the ANC” and therefore slates should stop!
He even shot down his then ally suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule saying he should not use his name to “divide the ANC”, this after Magashule in 2017 told mourners at a funeral service in Mpumalanga that Mabuza would have to be deputy president and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma the President.
Mabuza’s campaign had switched from NDZ to the infamous ‘Unity’ in the run-up to the Nasrec conference, something that raised the eyebrows of politicians and analysts who at the time questioned the objectives of such a conspicuous campaign.
Mpumalanga had 123 of its total branches nominating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s NDZ camp and 117 nominating Ramaphosa’s CR17, with 223 choosing Mabuza’s Unity.
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This Unity camp, for a party that was tired of infighting and nearing the end of the Zuma era, would have seen Mabuza winning the hearts of a large number of comrades across South Africa if he had been nominated from the floor inside conference to become ANC President on a ticket of defeating factionalism.
It didn’t make any sense for the former Mpumalanga strongman to stab ex-President Jacob Zuma in the back while pledging his loyalty to Ramaphosa at the 11th hour instead of just doubling down on both camps, seizing the moment and pulling a ‘Unity’ trump card, thereby forging a watershed moment in the history of the ANC as he had the numbers and resources to defeat both Dlamini-Zuma and Ramaphosa inside conference.
Mabuza’s troubles in Mpumalanga began one-day in March 2018 – about three months after his election as deputy president, when a non-profit organisation he founded with businessman Themba Sgudla turned against him and publicly lambasted him for preaching Unity while secretly fermenting divisions in Mpumalanga ANC structures.
The organisation – called Practical Radical Economic Transformation or PRET – was formed by the two at the Witbank Dam during a launch that Mabuza himself attended – taking place over two days on 11 and 12 March 2017 – alongside former economic development MEC and now rape-accused Eric Kholwane.
The launch elected Sgudla as President and and ex-eMalahleni municipality chief whip Sunday Mathebula as secretary general – and Mabuza told the scores who attended the launch: “You are doing the right thing for organising yourselves and fight poverty together. I’ll assist you”.
But in March 2018 the PRET group, formed to organise young people towards economic development, turned against Mabuza for leaving behind very “ignorant” ANC provincial leaders who were now “unwilling” to work with PRET after Mabuza had left.
“It is our considered view that Mabuza’s use of Unity as a campaign card was not genuine, instead it was a self-seeking exercise which sought to propel him into the position of deputy president at the expense of the very Unity he claimed to be championing. It is clear that this Unity was for his sole benefit and no one else,” read a statement by PRET on 12 March 2018 as they vowed they “will no longer be biased” to Mabuza and his Mpumalanga ANC.
“It becomes more clearer that PRET’s survival is solely dependent on itself and its individual members and no one else,” they said, adding that they were so frustrated by Mabuza’s dumping of the Unity campaign to the extent that they were now thinking of becoming a political party contesting the 2019 national government elections as they “will no longer continue to be spectators in the politics and economy of the province while the old-guard plays chess games with the lives of the young and unemployed”.
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The other problems that Mabuza created for himself was the role he played in February 2018 when the ANC was recalling Zuma as the country’s President. That added more salt on the wounds of the NDZ grouping that was already accusing him of selling out to Ramaphosa at the 11th hour.
Two weeks ago a rumour in Mpumalanga had it that the province was planning to endorse justice minister Ronald Lamola to be Ramaphosa’s deputy at the party’s 55th congress.
Lamola, described by newly elected provincial chairman Mandla Ndlovu as “young” and “energetic”, is a most trusted ally of Ramaphosa and Lamola has himself publicly stated that he will contest Mabuza for the deputy president position, which could be understood to be part of plans discussed in Ramaphosa’s circles to cut off Mabuza’s political journey and force him out.
Mabuza’s Ngci camp in Mpumalanga suffered a bloodbath of losses at three recently held conferences – first the provincial conference that elected Ramaphosa’s ally Mandla Ndlovu as chair, then the Gert Sibande and Ehlanzeni regional conferences that elected Ndlovu’s allies into all positions.
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The Nkangala conference is set to sit on 22 April 2022 and is expected to be a mirror of the three conferences, where all of Ndlovu’s allies will emerge.
Mabuza’s ally Lucky Ndinisa who contested Ndlovu for the post of Mpumalanga provincial chairperson said the election that defeated him were “free, fair and credible”. He was defeated after he received 278 while Ndlovu netted 440 of the total votes at the Witbank Dam.
“We want to congratulate the ANC members for the discipline that they displayed right from the registration point where they were disciplined and concentrated on the work at hand. We are happy that our internal democracy was put into test and it passed with distinctions. The elections were free, fair and credible and we wish to congratulate the newly elected chair Comrade Mandla Ndlovu,” Ndinisa told the 013NEWS.
Another Mabuza ally David ‘Mdavu’ Nhlabathi got 209 votes when he contested Ndlovu’s ally Speedy Mashilo, who got 505 votes for the post of deputy provincial chairperson, also said “internal democracy” of the ANC actually won.
“We must at all times accept the results and disciplined cadres of the ANC must respect the will of the majority. The ANC must unite after this conference, because the enemy is happy when we fight amongst ourselves,” Nhlabathi said.
But Mabuza would have avoided all of this had he chosen to not only go against the NDZ camp but also the CR17 camp, rising to the position of President by being nominated from the floor on a Unity card.
Mabuza was the leader of the Premier League and he displayed a strong hand when he summoned the other Leaguers – Free State, North West, KZN – but also Gauteng and Limpopo – to come to his Mpumalanga “unique” provincial general council (PGC) where he cajoled them into publicly declaring their support for “Unity”, which made him a contender in charge of at least six of the nine provinces and a strong contender in the 2017 ANC national elective congress to stand for the post of ANC President.
But sources say discussions for Mabuza’s rise to national office began around 2014 at his Barberton farm and in earnest only gained momentum around September 2016 – a month after the ANC had narrowly escaped losing the local government elections.
Following the election that saw the ANC lose major metros, Mabuza had been “bombarded” with phone calls from other ANC leaders outside Mpumalanga who were thanking him for his “assistance” in providing a “large resource pool” for the elections – resources which included the ANC bakkies and trucks that were donated to him by businesspeople and the “teams of people” from Mpumalanga that were sent by him to provide electioneering capacity in other provinces ahead of the August 2016 government elections.
It was around this time when the discussions amongst his friends who were with him at his Barberton farm started to manifest into action.
“I remember one evening we were with him and one of us suggested to him to use his closeness to [former President Jacob] Zuma and ask him to identify him as his successor when Zuma’s term ended in December 2017 and Mabuza seemed to be uncomfortable with this presidential idea. Instead he told us that it would be better if we support him to become the SG (secretary-general), to occupy Gwede Mantashe’s shoes because he believed he could assist the ANC to be a strong organisation if he worked at Luthuli House.
“As days went by, we began being divided on the idea. There were those of us who wanted him to be SG and those who wanted him to be president and others just wanted him to be in the Top 6, it didn’t matter which position and it all seemed impossible given the number of experienced leaders in the NEC who were needed in the Top 6,” said the source.
In 2015 the plan was set in motion for the rise of the enigmatic Mabuza to the ANC top brass with the launch of his campaign to be re-elected provincial chairman for a 3rd term. The campaign was dubbed DDM003MP. The number-plate-like catch phrase soon resounded throughout all corners of the province when a soundtrack CD was released by Asinavalo hitmaker Gamelihle Mbuyane featuring the hit song – Sifun’uMabuza Uyasebenza (We want Mabuza because he works very hard).
“The discussions were maturing, with leaders in the ANCWL and ANCYL supporting the idea and then I think in July 2016 the idea had matured because a lot of people were now aware, then Collen Maine (former ANCYL president who was Mabuza’s ally at the time) publicly announced in front of journalists at the Mpumalanga ANCYL elective conference said they would support a campaign called ‘DDM003DP’,” the source, who is now with the Ndlovu camp, said.
The ‘DDM003DP‘ stood for ‘David Dabede Mabuza, who is on a 3rd term as Mpumalanga ANC chairperson, should be elected Deputy President’.
Another source who attended a branch general meeting somewhere in August 2015 in Witbank during the time when Mabuza was controversially gunning for the 3rd term as ANC Mpumalanga chairperson in December 2015, told 013NEWS that ANC deputy provincial secretary Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, who was then the Nkangala REC member, presided over the BGM as a deployee and told branch members that:
“The issue of the provincial chairperson [Mabuza] and I want to make it clear today, is that he has worked hard for the ANC in Mpumalanga and we must take him to the upper level of national, but there is no way we can take him from a branch level. So that’s why we say he should come in again as a provincial chairperson so that in December 2017 he goes national”
Ntshalintshali never said though what position they wanted Mabuza to occupy, unlike former ANCYL deputy president Desmond Moela Moela who in April 2017 said that Mabuza was the “best candidate” for the post of ANC President while addressing an ANCYL gathering in Badplaas.
“As the ANCYL we have not yet pronounced ourselves and we will do that through proper channels and structures of our organisation and we’ll make sure that we put young people to lead the ANC and when we say we want young people we might not be referring to this generation but to people like comrade DD Mabuza because we believe they are still young and they can take the organisation forward,” Moela said to thunderous applause.
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Former arts and culture MEC Norah Mahlangu in May 2017 also said the same while addressing community members during Africa Day.
“There’s no leader who had delivered like Mabuza here in Mpumalanga and in the whole South Africa,” she said.
“Why can’t we get him to lead us nationally and do the same things for the country that he did for us here in Mpumalanga,” said Mahlangu-Mabena on Monday morning (29 May 2017).
“I’m thinking that it is us residents of Mpumalanga who have to speak in a very big voice and say ‘we saw the Premier here building a university for us and a traffic college and we saw him opening for us the fresh produce market in Mbombela, and have you seen a leader creating such a place [fresh produce market] for his people?’” she asked, to which the community replied: “No!”.
“So why can’t he take over?” Mahlangu continued.
“Because if he takes over there won’t be a single boy (referring to EFF leader Julius Malema) who will stand there and challenge him, everyone will see his good work and say we go with you Mabuza,” she said, also in Badplaas.
SEE HERE: Norah Mahlangu: ‘Mabuza should be President’ – Desmond Moela hints Mabuza will be ANC President
Mabuza was elected the deputy president on 18 December 2017 with 2538 of the total votes, defeating Lindiwe Sisulu who got 2159. Ramaphosa defeated Dlamini-Zuma with 2440 votes against her 2261 votes, a difference of 179 votes for the post of President.
For the post of national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe got 2418 against Nathi Mthethwa’s 2269 votes, and Ace Magashule defeated Senzo Mchunu by only 24 delegates.
Ramaphosa’s defeat of Dlamini-Zuma with the 179 delegates was due to Mabuza’s ordering of Mpumalanga to vote for Ramaphosa but had he convinced conveners of the CR17 and NDZ camps to support him for the position of ANC President inside conference Mabuza wouldn’t be hurt like this ahead of the 55th national conference as it becomes clear now that the numbers don’t add up to get him to contest again as deputy president or worse even if he were to contest the position of President.
Also switching sides to support Ramaphosa caused a lot of comrades to no longer trust Mabuza, even those in Ramaphosa circles. But others say the reason Mabuza switched sides was because he was advised by businessman Robert Gumede, an ally of Ramaphosa, to “quit the Zuma family as they are destroying the country”.
One delegate who attended the Nasrec conference said that after the results were announced Magashule came to them.
“Comrade Ace came to us [after the results had been announced]. We were very disappointed all of us. No singing. Nothing. Unable even to drink water. He didn’t look happy also. He then said that Mabuza sold us out and then he left”.
(edited by MLM & ZK)
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