Loyiso Masuku’s victory as chair of the ANC in Johannesburg has been cast as the pinnacle of the fightback by anti-GNU Gauteng leaders against their disbandment earlier this year.
The Panyaza Lesufi-led ANC in Gauteng fell out with the national leaders especially party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula when it refused to form a government with the DA after the general elections in May 2024.
The Sunday Times can reveal that Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza, Lebogang Maile and Lesufi have been quietly working behind the scenes to mount a fightback against Mbalula, who is believed to have pushed for the disbandment of the Gauteng ANC’s provincial executive committee (PEC).
Those close to the trio say they were fighting against Mbalula, who wanted to use their disbandment to weaken Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s presidential ambitions.
Mashatile and Mbalula are expected to go head-to-head at the 2027 ANC national conference in a bid to replace Cyril Ramaphosa as the party’s president.
Mashatile, as well as Nomvula Mokonyane, is hinging his bets on the support of Gauteng, which Mbalula disbanded. But Lesufi, Maile and Nciza are now mounting a fightback against him.
Insiders say the trio have been working to install their allies in regional conferences taking place in Gauteng. These include the leadership elected in Sedibeng and most of the executive committee members of Ekurhuleni who are their allies.
Masuku’s election in a landslide victory at the Johannesburg regional conference this weekend, where her slate won with a clean sweep of the top five regional executive committee positions, was a result of their efforts.
The Sunday Times can also reveal that the fightback campaign, especially at the Joburg conference this week, was aided by Mbalula’s erstwhile friend and ally Mduduzi Manana, who serves as the ANC’s national organiser.
Mbaks [Mbalula] won’t know what hit him; he is playing with fire,” said one of the trio’s allies. “We have been meticulous in making sure he does not find joy in any of the regions here in Gauteng. We took what he did to us here with that disbandment very personally.
“Mbaks [Mbalula] won’t know what hit him; he is playing with fire,” said one of the trio’s allies. “We have been meticulous in making sure he does not find joy in any of the regions here in Gauteng. We took what he did to us here with that disbandment very personally.”
Another Gauteng leader said: “He [Mbalula] excitedly went to Sedibeng to close that conference, but he didn’t know that the people who had won there were our allies. In Ekurhuleni, out of the 20 REC [regional executive committee] members who were elected there, at least 19 of them are our allies, obviously excluding the chairperson and mayor [Doctor] Xhakaza.”
The decision to disband the PEC saw Nciza and Lesufi being removed as provincial secretary and chair, respectively, and they were accommodated in the task team that was established. Lesufi was appointed as the task team’s deputy convenor, while Nciza and Maile were appointed as mere members.
The decision to disband the PEC came after their disastrous showing in last year’s national and provincial elections, where the ANC dropped from 53.2% in 2019 to 36.4%.
Mbalula is said to have led the charge to disband the ANC’s provincial leadership in a move that received a pushback from Mashatile, deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane and national chair Gwede Mantashe and their national executive committee (NEC) allies.
So fierce was the battle about the fate of the Gauteng PEC that President Cyril Ramaphosa had to intervene and came up with the term “reconfiguration”, which meant a disbandment in which all of the PEC members came back as part of the newly formed task team.
This decision was accepted, as those pushing back against the disbandment argued that removing the entire provincial leadership would have sent a message that they were solely to blame for the poor showing.
Those in the NEC also argued that Mbalula wanted to disband the Gauteng PEC because he knew they would not back his 2027 ANC presidential ambitions over Mashatile, who hails from the province.
Lesufi, Maile and Nciza are now focusing their attention on the upcoming regional conference in Tshwane, where Mbalula’s allies are strong contenders.
The trio is said to believe that defeating his allies there will be a tough challenge.
“It’s going to be difficult in Tshwane, but you really can’t have those people returning as our leaders; we need to fight against that clownism,” said a provincial leader.
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