{"id":916923,"date":"2022-01-17T06:03:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-17T06:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/news\/2022\/01\/17\/anc-slams-stan-mathabatha-for-backing-cyril-ramaphosa\/"},"modified":"2022-01-17T06:03:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T06:03:00","slug":"anc-slams-stan-mathabatha-for-backing-cyril-ramaphosa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/01\/17\/anc-slams-stan-mathabatha-for-backing-cyril-ramaphosa\/","title":{"rendered":"ANC slams Stan Mathabatha for backing Cyril Ramaphosa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pretoria – In a major twist, the ANC in Limpopo has distanced itself from provincial chairperson and premier Stan Mathabatha\u2019s endorsement of Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s second term bid, saying it was his \u201cpersonal opinion\u201d and \u201cderogation of the ANC\u2019s conference conventions\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a telephonic interview with the Pretoria News, provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane said Mathabatha\u2019s assertions on January 8 were \u201cavoidable\u201d, adding it was \u201cunnecessary to pronounce at such an event\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He stressed that the Limpopo ANC had never discussed preferred candidates ahead of the party\u2019s 55th national conference in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the principal spokesperson of the ANC in the province I can tell you now that the statement was not an official pronouncement of the ANC and must be treated as a personal opinion which was unnecessary to pronounce at such an event. It\u2019s derogation of the ANC\u2019s conference conventions. Now we have to explain things that are unnecessary. We don\u2019t have to keep reminding each other of the conventions of the ANC,\u201d Lekganyane said.<\/p>\n

He said Mathabatha\u2019s statement also sowed disunity within the governing party.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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MORE ON THIS<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIn the three years I have been provincial secretary we have not discussed the national conference. The pronouncements were avoidable. January 8 was supposed to have been used as a platform to build confidence within South Africans and bring about unity. The NEC had not rang any bells for pronouncements,\u201d Lekganyane added.<\/p>\n

This came as some ANC branches in the province lambasted Mathabatha, calling on him to withdraw the endorsement. They also called on the ANC national executive committee (NEC) to take action against him.<\/p>\n

Mathabatha, at the party\u2019s 110th anniversary celebrations in Polokwane last week, declared that the ANC in the province would support Ramaphosa getting a second term, saying the province recently conducted successful registration conferences in Norman Mashabane, Vhembe, Sekhukhune and Peter Mokaba regions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He added that branches of the ANC expressed their support for Ramaphosa\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

However, some branches in Limpopo have come out guns blazing, demanding to know where Mathabatha got the mandate to make that pronouncement.<\/p>\n

In a letter written by branch chairperson Fistos Mafela from ward 8 (Sumbandila Branch) in Musina, and addressed to the party\u2019s headquarters, Luthuli House, titled \u201cConcern about the early pronouncement by the Limpopo provincial chairperson (Mathabatha)\u201d, they state that Mathabatha acted on his own without consulting branches. It read in part: \u201cI have a serious concern about the pronouncement made by the Limpopo provincial chairperson, which I regard as a violation of the ANC constitution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe chairperson declared publicly that he fully supports a second term for President Ramaphosa. But according to the ANC nobody is allowed to pronounce the leadership before the ANC opens a succession debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter further accused Mathabatha of using his elected position to serve his own interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to know where those comrades got the mandate to make such pronouncements as it is only branches who must speak and not individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Speaking to the Pretoria News, Mafela, a known member of the Radical Economic Transformation forces aligned to suspended party general secretary Ace Magashule, called for Mathabatha to withdraw his statement until the party opened the succession debate.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe chairperson must withdraw his statement until the ANC opens its succession debates, and wait for the Provincial General Counsel (PGC). Only the PGC can show us how many branches\/delegates are supporting available candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mafela said he had written the letter in his personal capacity and sent it to ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte\u2019s office. \u201cWe must wait for the ANC to open a succession debate and we are going to nominate comrades who will save our organisation and save it. Many branches are complaining about the pronouncement without a mandate,\u201d Mafela said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another branch secretary, Joseph Baloi of Tlou Tefu Branch in Moletjie outside Polokwane, shared Mafela\u2019s assertions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree with the chairperson (Mafela) that the discussion document has not yet been pronounced, and the succession debate has not started. However, I wish to refrain from that engagement because it has not been discussed at branch level yet. The right time will come where we will make pronouncements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon Matome, chairperson of the Ike Maphotho branch in Polokwane said there was nothing to comment on because his branch had not discussed anything.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Party spokesperson Pule Mabe ignored texts sent by Pretoria News. Mathabatha\u2019s phone rang unanswered.<\/p>\n

Pretoria News<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Pretoria – In a major twist, the ANC in Limpopo has distanced itself from provincial chairperson and premier Stan Mathabatha\u2019s endorsement of Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s second term bid, saying it was his \u201cpersonal opinion\u201d and \u201cderogation of the ANC\u2019s conference conventions\u201d. In a telephonic interview with the Pretoria News, provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane said Mathabatha\u2019s assertions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-916923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916923\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}