By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) has appointed ex-ambassador Ebrahim Rasool as the convener to reverse the party’s poor performance in the Western Cape.
This move is part of a push to reconfigure the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) following a poor electoral performance in the 2024 general elections. The ANC only managed 19.5% of the Western Cape vote in the hotly contested polls.
We saw the same move with PEC’s of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, incorporating experienced leaders and veterans as part of plans to reinforce stability and renewal.
Speaking at a media briefing in Cape Town, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said a reconfiguration of the party’s Western Cape leadership is necessary to strengthen its renewal drive.
Mbalula clarified that the move does not constitute a dissolution of the PEC.
“The end goal is to strengthen the ANC in the Western Cape and that’s what we are doing. So we have not taken a drastic decision to dissolve anyone, we’ve reconfigured the leadership.”
Mbalula said the immediate task in the Western Cape is to rebuild ANC branches, leagues, and regional structures so they can function as vibrant instruments of community development and political education.
“The ANC’s brand, communications, and mass work must be strengthened to reaffirm the organisation’s leadership role among the people,” he said.
The reconfiguration will also prioritise ethical leadership, discipline, and the fight against corruption, including tackling crime, extortion, and gang-related violence.
The party will intensify efforts on gender equality, social inclusion, and economic transformation that benefits the poor and marginalised.
Preparations for the 2026 local government elections will be a central focus, with the goal of reclaiming lost ground and positioning the ANC at the centre of governance in the province, Mbalula said.
The Newly Reconfigured Western Cape Provincial Task Team (PTT) is as follows:
Convener: Ebrahim Rasool
1st Deputy Convener: Linda Moss 2nd Deputy Convener: Vuyiso Tyhalisisu Coordinator: Thandi Manikivana Makasi 1st Deputy Coordinator: Melanie Tembo 2nd Deputy Coordinator: Phlisa Makeleni Fundraiser: Richard Dyantyi.
Rasool was the penultimate ANC Premier of the Western Cape. After being recalled in 2008, he was replaced by a short-lived stint in the position by one Lynne Brown, who went on to achieve notoriety in a succession of Cabinet posts. The very next year, the ANC lost the Western Cape to the DA in the 2009 elections, and the rest is history.
He remains a big name in the province, at least to slightly older voters, and the hope is that his re-emergence will remind ANC voters of a kind of gravitas its provincial leadership possessed in years gone by.