Surprisingly there seems to be a lot of news surrounding the sacking/ non-sacking of two of the country’s Premiers, Ibrahim Rasool and Nosimo Balindlela. Rasool and Balindlela are rumoured to have been fired out of their posts by the ANC’s NEC over the weekend, but no official word has come out yet. The two run Western Cape and Eastern Cape respectively. These provinces are among the bunch that usual score low marks either on delivery issues or on the fact that an ANC government isn’t in sole power there. There are one or two others in these categories, Free State and Mpumalanga come to mind.
What surprised me on this occasion was, firstly the reaction of DA leader Helen Zille who, only two weeks ago was lambasting Rasool for not taking active steps in helping people affected by the recent floods of the Cape, forcing the city of Cape Town to stretch its own resources. She is now saying Rasool should fight the ANC legally because he has a case against such a firing, if there is one. This week a foe, next week a friend. Oh, what do we have in Zille? Rasool is an ANC man and my feeling is that he will not go this route at all, either out of pure loyalty to the party or for fear of being retaliated against at a later stage. Remember, we are only months away from the 2009 elections and all the soldiers are positioning themselves for higher positions in government. Rasool will not be a fool and fight his bosses when they ask him to step aside. Neither will Balindlela for that matter. Both would have watched Dr Alan Boesak and learnt from him.
As for being “Mbeki supporters” as it has been reported, this is neither here nor there because the ANC gave the President the powers to hire Premiers at his whim. Therefore by extension, all the Premiers currently working in the country, are Mbeki’s people, so to speak. The ANC later lived to deeply regret this decision bestowed upon its former president. What has not been said is whether Jacob Zuma will also have the same powers or not. And yes, I am assuming Zuma will be the next President of Mzansi. Let’s not for one second, be hoodwinked by the impending trial and all that surrounds it; the man is coming into power come April 2009.
Major reshuffles are coming too and we will see these prominently in parliament, but mostly in the public figures that are the cabinet ministers. It goes without saying that Mrs Mlambo-Nguka will not be in the same position by this time next year for one. Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang and Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Letoka are also on this list. I am told too by those who know best that more than half the current crop will not be returning, willingly or otherwise. A few the public will not miss, but the biggest question is about Trevor Manuel at Treasury, for he is now a darling in the world of finance. People who have lots of money care only about this guy and these folks often have the loudest voices. His partner Maria Ramos is probably not renewing her contract at Transnet towards the end of the year so it could be a fresh new start for both of them, somewhere.
A Premier reshuffle is nothing new, especially in this country. Noise cannot be made when this is done, but I suppose questions can be raised if it is done before a Premier’s term in office has expired. Why not wait until the elections? The only reason I could think of is that the ANC is now very nervous about the Western Cape, having won it by the narrowest of margins last time and still not ruling Cape Town itself. They therefore probably feel Rasool is not the man to win them these two constituencies. So who is?
