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Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. (Photo: Flickr / GCIS)
Amid growing concern over the ANC’s political battles unfolding in the military, it has now emerged that Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has been pressured to run for president of the ANC at his next elective conference.
Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is said to be considering jumping into the ring for a top six spot in the ANC ahead of that party’s 2022 conference. Two sources close to the Defense Department have claimed supporters She was pressured by vice president David Mabuza to run for president of the ANC and to go head-to-head with the incumbent, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, should he be nominated to run. a second term.
The 63-year-old former president of the ANC Women’s League still has support in the league, which she can probably count on during an elective battle. He is said to have a favorable relationship with the incumbent, Bathabile Dlamini. Mapisa-Nqakula would also bring more gender balance to the top six, which currently consist of five men and an assistant secretary general, Jessie Duarte. Mantashe’s predecessor, Baleka Mbete, previously served Duarte as one of two women in the top six leadership positions.
However, it is still not very clear where Mapisa-Nqakula’s regional support base would be, despite her being seen by her lobbyists as an Eastern Cape candidate. Mapisa-Nqakula hails from East London, but has been working outside the Eastern Cape for at least the last two decades. Mantashe himself has also been based outside the province for a considerable time, but still maintains strong ties to Cala, where he is from, in part through agriculture.
There is also talk that Mapisa-Nqakula could seek support from the ANC alliance partners, Cosatu, and the South African Communist Party (SACP). Her husband, Charles Nqakula, is a SACP veteran, and one commentator speculated that she could use him to pressure the party to support her.
Mapisa-Nqakula has served in the executive for at least 18 years, starting as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs in 2002 under Thabo Mbeki, and then serving in the Internal Affairs portfolio. Despite being the only ANC deputy who did not vote in favor of a resolution that gave effect to Mbeki’s resignation as president in 2008, Mapisa-Nqakula was retained by Jacob Zuma, who transferred her to the Defense portfolio, where she was re-elected by Ramaphosa in 2018. Mapisa-Nqakula has served on the ANC’s National Executive Committee since 2007.
Lobbying for ANC leadership positions generally begins around the time of the party’s National General Council, which takes place every five years between conferences. Due to the large number of branch delegates attending, usually around 4,000 to 5,000, it has become a useful tool for different factions of the party to gauge their support before lobbying candidates for the elective conference.
However, regional leaders in the Eastern Cape have denied knowledge of Mapisa-Nqakula’s ambitions, with at least one saying that it is too early to have such discussions. He also said that the provinces cannot just support a candidate just because they are from that province.
“She is not material for the top six,” he said. “The other mistake they make is approaching conferences from a tribal angle. The fact that you were born in the Eastern Cape and that you speak a regional language does not mean an automatic nomination. “
Mapisa-Nqakula’s lobbying late last month is significant in the context of a recent statement by the head of the South African National Defense Force, General Solly Shoke, condemning a meeting convened by retired General Maomela “Mojo” Motau to discuss political issues affecting the ANC. This was followed by Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans (MKMVA) leader Kebby Maphatsoe calling, in a sound clip that went viral, for members of MKMVA to take up arms, at the same time claiming that Ramaphosa had not complied with the 2017 party conference. Resolutions.
Sedition is in the air as the RET faction tries to mobilize a rearguard action.
Military analyst Helmoed-Römer Heitman said Mapisa-Nqakula’s silence on Maphatsoe’s recent pronouncements was disappointing. However, he added that members of the defense force, including former MK officers, are not highly politicized. “Plus [former MK officers] now we are soldiers and they don’t see politicians, ”he said.
Heitman, however, added that the military should not become “part of any party political maneuver” because that could raise the possibility of a coup. DM
