Some ANC MPs are rebelling against a position communicated by party chief whip Pemmy Majodina that the caucus has decided to support a committee to inquire into the fitness to hold office of public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
Majodina said yesterday the ANC caucus in parliament had taken the decision on Thursday. Her statement indicated that Mkhwebane had lost support in the caucus.
Before the meeting, Mkhwebane's supporters vowed to block the parliamentary process that could lead to her impeachment. Yesterday they challenged Majodina on the caucus internal chat group, saying she misrepresented the decisions of the meeting.
A number of MPs told the Sunday Times that Majodina had told the caucus that, in the absence of an ANC national executive committee resolution on Mkhwebane, she would discuss the matter with the party's top six officials tomorrow to get direction.
Majodina omitted this in her statement.
"Why the view that the chief whip will consult the top six was excluded?" asked Tshilidzi Munyai, an MP from Gauteng, in the internal chat.
"It is worrying that the issue of consulting with the top six was omitted. That omission from the caucus statement is worrying and borders on misrepresentation."
Other MPs backed Munyai, suggesting that they were under the impression the matter had not been concluded and there was no ANC position.
Supra Mahumapelo, a former premier of North West and now an MP, wrote: "The ANC, and not the opposition, should be the one setting the political agenda.
"Only to the extent that there is a risk related to a possible court challenge against Parli [parliament] will our ANC MPs not oppose the establishment of the committee if the DA can get the majority needed to pass the decision."
Mahumapelo said his understanding was that the ANC would be passive on the issue because it would not actively assist the DA on the referral of an independent panel's report. The panel said there was evidence that Mkhwebane was guilty of misconduct and incapacity, or was incompetent.
The panel was appointed by the speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, after a motion by the DA to have Mkhwebane impeached following several court findings against her. She also faces a criminal case for alleged perjury.
Majodina said yesterday it was up to the National Assembly to endorse or reject the panel's recommendations and the ANC supported the process.
This week, ANC MPs got into a public spat over the panel's report after ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said the party must not vote with the DA on the matter.
Several ANC MPs, among them Kebby Maphatsoe, Mervyn Dirks and Thabo Mmuntle, supported Magashule. Transport minister Fikile Mbalula strongly opposed him on social media, saying the party's national executive committee had not taken a decision on the matter.
Speaking to the Sunday Times yesterday, Majodina would not be drawn on whether the caucus had given instructions on how its members should vote in the event that an opposition party called for a vote on whether to go ahead with an ad hoc committee.
She said the development of the Mkhwebane issue was new in democratic SA and it meant that democracy was growing.
"The process will be informed by the rules of the National Assembly," she said.
The overwhelming feeling was that she [Mkhwebane] will have to go. It does not matter how that happens because the report says there is prima facie evidence of her incompetence
— ANC MP
Majodina said the caucus had decided to make her the only person to communicate on the matter because a number of members were expressing their feelings and not a party position.
"There has to be someone to communicate what was discussed by the party and not their personal feelings."
Insiders who spoke to the Sunday Times about the meeting said it was clear that the RET (radical economic transformation) faction in the ANC had lost on the Mkhwebane issue.
"The overwhelming feeling was that she [Mkhwebane] will have to go. It does not matter how that happens because the report says there is prima facie evidence of her incompetence," said one MP.
Another MP, who supports the RET faction, admitted that their side had lost the debate. "All we are saying now is that when the members of the ad hoc committee are selected, the chief whip has to take into consideration the two sides when deploying," said the MP.
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