North-West Premier Supra Mahumapelo has confirmed that he will resign as the head of the province by Wednesday.
The embattled Premier told SABC that he will meet his provincial executive to formally inform them about the decision.
“By tomorrow midday, Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo will be the former premier of the North West. That’s why I’m saying I will elaborate tomorrow in the press conference why I believe a particular political narrative has been created so that we are in the circumstances where we have now reached a state of untenability,” Mahumapelo explained.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee led by Minister in the Presidency Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma deployed by President Cyril Ramaphosa has concluded its work to investigate corruption allegations and lack of service delivery afflicting some provincial departments.
The committee’s recommendations will be tabled before the cabinet meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday.
The North West has suffered weeks of violent unrest by protesters blaming the premier for alleged corruption and poor service delivery.
Premier’s critics have cautiously welcomed news that their push for his recall is about to succeed.
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Mahumapelo’s legacy
The infamous Supra Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo – a man who’s political career begun in the early 80s reached the highest echelons of provincial politics.
But it seems his adaptable nature may face its greatest test. As calls for him to step down by opposition parties and some disgruntled members of the ANC and its alliance partners intensified.
Political analyst Prof Andre Duven says, “Mr Mahumapelo is not politically aligned with the forces of the day. At the moment he is aligning himself with Jacob Zuma, with Ace Magashule. And I believe that is the wrong position to be in this time. And I can only see big trouble for him in the future.”
While divisions in the ruling party in the province did not begin with Premier Mahumapelo, it seems the party grew more fragmented under his leadership with major fault lines forming post-Nasrec, as members of the alliance rallied to have him removed from office after his pro-Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma slate lost to the Ramaphosa camp.
North West Cosatu Chairperson Solly Lekhu explains: “As the alliance, we have the capacity to deal with such matters if we believe a leader is no longer relevant or serving the interest of the population. Workers were very clear that the Premier must speak to his conscience and relinquish the position he is in.”
The premier’s name was also brought into disrepute last month when his office was raided by the Hawks after allegations that an IT company – Nepo Data Dynamics – was irregularly paid more than R215 million.
His name also made headlines when it emerged that the Premier had prior knowledge about corruption in the provincial department of health relating to an irregular payment of R30 million to a Gupta linked medical technology company – Mediosa.
North West Sanco Packet Seaketso says, “ Our view as Sanco is that the national leadership of ANC led by Cyril Ramaphosa must invoke Section 100 in North West, because there is no governance.”
While popular for his charisma, it remains to be seen if that alone will be enough to salvage his Premiership legacy.
