By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected the claims by his deputy Paul Mashatile that there’s a plot to oust him from office as early as next month.
The reports suggested Mashatile believes those behind the plot to remove him want him gone from the Union Buildings.
Ramaphosa appointed Mashatile as his deputy president in April after his election as president at the ANC conference in December.
Mashatile has suggested these are the same people who tried to block his campaign to become the deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC) last year.
Ramaphosa who has the power to appoint and fire his deputy, has squarely rejected Mashatile’s assertion, saying there was “no truth or substance” to Mashatile’s claims.
“I immediately said to him, I appointed you, and I am the only person that can disappoint you. There’s just no thought, no plan, no inkling whatsoever that something like that is in the works,” the president said.
Ramaphosa was engaging with the media on the sidelines of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Sunday.
Those in Mashatile’s camp believe the move to have him removed is orchestrated by several allies of Ramaphosa, including his former special adviser and NEC member Bejani Chauke.
Chauke this week dismissed the rumours that he has been plotting against Mashatile by leaking damaging stories about him.
Ramaphosa on Sunday, however, defended Chauke saying he had also been a victim of fake WhatsApp texts.
“There’s been quite an abuse of WhatsApp numbers. Mine was also used improperly and I think we did issue a statement to that effect because all of a sudden I found my WhatsApp number and photograph were being used to solicit money from a number of people.”
Ramaphosa said one recipient was a friend who called him and said “I just received this message from you” about sending money to someone, and he [Ramaphosa] asked “What message?”. Ramaphosa said “we then realised that my number was being abused and we are looking into all that”.
Meanwhile during the meeting the NEC raised concerns over the poor response to the natural disasters by municipalities.
The NEC’s subcommittee chairperson on governance,Thembi Nkadimeng made the statement during a media briefing in Boksburg on Sunday.
She dismissed claims suggesting municipalities were not financially equipped to handle disasters, saying they were just not planning ahead to prepare for mishaps.
“For example, the April floods which we had in KwaZulu-Natal, if I’m not wrong, Cogta has already dispersed about R1,2 billion. But the last time I visited eThekwini to specifically deal with disasters, I found that their planning was very low.”
Nkadimeng also said the party’s highest decision-making body called for changes in how motions of no confidence were tabled, because parties were abusing the process.
She said metros such as Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay had seen more than five motions of no confidence, and this had led to instability.
Johannesburg has had three mayors within six months.
Nkadimeng added: I mean, you have got eight metros that carry a population of about 40% to 45% … which means half of our population resides in the metros where there is the highest level of instability with regards to coalition, coalition management, coalition setup, which affects service delivery negatively.
Mashatile has already begun discussions with various parties represented in Parliament, including the DA, UDM, and Freedom Front Plus.
A national dialogue on coalition governments has been scheduled for 27 July, where parties will discuss various proposed legislation, including a 1% threshold, which would limit the number of parties that could qualify for representation in legislatures.
Watch the briefing live here.
Video Courtesy of MyANC.