President Cyril Ramaphosa, concerned about the stability of the country’s economic hub, has intervened to ensure the PA’s Kenny Kunene gets sworn back in as member of the mayoral committee for transport in the City of Johannesburg by Tuesday.
This because of a stalemate between the EFF and the PA over the city’s transport portfolio, with both parties threatening to pull out of all arrangements with the ANC should they not get their way.
The Sunday Times understands Ramaphosa and other ANC national leaders have directed that the proposal for the swapping of EFF and PA MMC positions in the city be halted with immediate effect.
The directive came after PA leader Gayton McKenzie this week went public, threatening to pull out of the government of national unity if Kunene was not sworn back in as MMC for transport.
Behind closed doors, the EFF has also reportedly warned the ANC it would pull out of every municipality they co-govern if its demands were not met.
Kunene was hastily sworn back in as a City of Johannesburg councillor on Friday after he had voluntarily stepped down as an MMC and resigned as a councillor when he was found at Katiso “KT” Molefe’s house — just as the police pounced on Molefe to arrest him over allegations he had orchestrated the murder of Oupa Sefoka, also known as DJ Sumbody.
Several insiders, both in the ANC and PA, have alleged Joburg mayor Dada Morero used this vacancy to give in to the EFF’s long-standing demand to be handed the transport portfolio.
“By the time he realised he had made a mistake he wanted to make a U-turn and the EFF refused. They said ‘you can’t withdraw your promise’, so it’s a mess,” said a senior ANC leader with intimate knowledge of the negotiations. “Both of them [PA and EFF] have threatened to pull out of the coalition with us all across the country.”
It is believed that after McKenzie went public with his threat to pull out of the GNU, ANC national leaders including Ramaphosa gave an order that this threat, even if it may not materialise, would startle investors.
“National has buckled. They’ve said we must give it back to the PA by Tuesday. But we need to meet with the EFF on Monday to tell them Dada [Morero] has made a mistake and that we can offer something else,” the insider said.
It was not premature, it is based on experience we have had from July. Liam Jacobs substituted me and Dada Morero refused to appoint him. He wanted to give it to the EFF. Now I am coming back, the narrative has not changed; he [Morero] says we must go to public safety and EFF takes transport
— Kenny Kunene
“Because if EFF goes, Tshwane, Mogale, Joburg, PE and various other municipalities will go. So we are trying to manage it so that these guys don’t go. PA were clever to go public because then No 1 (the president) had to come in and say we can’t have this,” said another source.
ANC regional secretary Sasabona Manganye dismissed the drama around the PA's demands as “unfair and not properly channelled”.
“Kenny Kunene was not even a councillor yet,” Maganye said. “They jumped the gun. The mayor couldn’t be expected to appoint someone who was not in council. They should first conclude the issue of him being a councillor, because the issue of being an MMC comes after.”
Manganye conceded the PA’s impatience with the ANC and Morero might have been caused by their inaction regarding the filling of the transport MMC boss vacancy in the past month, despite the PA having offered a replacement.
Former DA member of parliament Liam Jacobs, who has since defected to the PA, was sent to Joburg to be sworn in on the council and appointed to fill the vacancy created by Kunene’s resignation. However, his month-long stint ended when the ANC allegedly dragged its feet on the matter.
Kunene told the Sunday Times his party acted in the manner it did because there was a long-standing plot between the ANC and the EFF to snatch the transport portfolio from under his nose.
“It was not premature, it is based on experience we have had from July. Liam Jacobs substituted me and Dada Morero refused to appoint him. He wanted to give it to the EFF. Now I am coming back, the narrative has not changed; he [Morero] says we must go to public safety and EFF takes transport.”
Kunene said there had been meetings between his party and the ANC provincial task team and negotiations were resolved on his return. However, he laid the blame on Morero, saying he was a stumbling block who had prevented his comeback.
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