Lucas Ledwaba
The imminent return of Chupu Mathabatha as premier of Limpopo province comes as little surprise.
Although miracles and surprises are part and parcel of the daily game of politics, it would have been a miracle if the man from Tooseng had been given the chop.
The ANC announced after its special NEC meeting yesterday that Mathabatha’s name was among three forwarded by his provincial PEC for premier candidacy and he had made the cut.
The governing party said in arriving at its decision, the NEC was guided by the principles and approaches including gender parity, unity and stability in ANC structures, youth and inter- generational mix, experience and integrity.
Mathabatha boasts loads of experience in the structures of the ANC, and has brought stability to the once troubled province both in the party and in government. A scandal in which he allegedly sought the hand of his rival Florence Radzilani into a romantic affair last year has tainted his reputation as a leader with integrity.
However, Mathabatha appears to have brought a reasonable level of unity into ANC structures in the province, something that continues to elude the party both at its top echelons nationally and in the provinces.
Also, Mathabatha appears to have doused the fires of tribalism that haunted his predecessors Ngoako Ramatlhodi, Sello Moloto and Mathale during their tenures. Limpopo’s ‘tribal politics’ stem from its history as a province that during the apartheid years was home to the Venda, Gazankulu and Lebowa homeland administrations.
These politics manifested themselves into serious tribal-based factions post 1994, and at some stage appeared to threaten the stability of the ANC and lead to a damaging split.
These continue to be dynamics Mathabatha will have to contend with after his swearing in. The ANC says that in provinces where the premier is male, the Cabinet should comprise at least 60% of women.
Mathabatha will have to tread carefully in his appointments, balancing the historical dynamics, different political factions, bringing in youth leaders and maintaining continuity and experience.
Mathabatha, who has since being roped in to take over the reins, has managed to stabilise what was a turbulent ship heading for rock bottom. When he took over after incumbent Cassel Mathale was given the boot by the NEC, the province’s finances were in a mess with central government forced to intervene by placing key departments under administration.
Internally, the provincial ANC was wrecked by bitter divisions between Mathale’s looting brigade, those who had been sidelined in the pillaging frenzy, party loyalists who wanted a return to order and stability, and a youth brigade that was a remnant of ANC Youth League Julius Malema’s legacy of patronage, intimidation and ruling the province by the proverbial political sword.
The NEC’s decision to retain Mathabatha may have also been influenced by the fact that Limpopo was the party’s best performing province during last week’s general and provincial elections.
Although the party’s majority in the province declined by 3.11% compared to 2014 when they won with a 78.60%, Mathabatha remains the best performing provincial chairperson with a 75.49% average.
In total 1,096,300 people voted for the ANC in Limpopo and 10,026,047 nationally. Although there were growing calls for a female premier to take over the province, with Radzilani’s name being touted as a possible candidate, the NEC would have had trouble justifying not selecting a man with whose stewardship the ANC virtually annihilated the opposition.
The VBS scandal, in which senior political figures including Radzilani and provincial treasurer Danny Msiza were implicated in alleged corruption, that led to the bank’s collapse was probably Mathabatha’s biggest test thus far.
It could be said he navigated the storm with some tact, appearing to take action against those implicated by firing seven mayors who defied treasury orders not to invest in VBS and asking Msiza “to comradely step aside”.
To a public crying for stern action against those implicated in corruption, this may sound like music to the ears. But the reality is that all those implicated are still in the ANC, and even the fired mayors are still drawing a salary as councillors.
He has effectively washed his hands off the matter and left it to the hands of law enforcement agencies who have been threatening to effect arrests for months.
However, indications are that the internal politics of the ANC and whether Mathabatha fires mayors or effects a mock suspension of the provincial treasurer – matter little to the voter.
Limpopo is largely rural and statistics show most of its citizens depend on state welfare. They have no experience, post-apartheid, of any other government than the ANC and so long as they receive their social grants, their children go to no-fee schools where they are fed by the state and they have a roof over their head and electricity, they will surely have no reason to vote otherwise.
This is perhaps a sobering reminder of the words of Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean intellectual and revolutionary Amilcar Cabral who said: “Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children.”
