Florence Radzilani's future as the MEC in the Limpopo executive hangs in the balance as the ANC in the province says the final decision rests with Luthuli House.
Should the ANC at national level agree with the integrity commission that Radzilani be removed as MEC of social development, then the province will have to implement that decision.
This is according to ANC Limpopo spokesperson Jimmy Machaka, who on Tuesday said Radzilani’s matter did not come up in the provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting held on Monday.
Machaka said that matters of the integrity commission are handled at national level and the provincial leadership would have no option but to implement the decision should Luthuli House agree with the ethics body.
“The ANC Limpopo PEC has not discussed the matter of Florence, at the time the matter came to public light, the issues for PEC discussions were already processed,” said Machaka.
“Further the integrity commission issues are matters of the national structures and not the PEC. Where there are decisions and directives, the PEC merely implements these.”
But Machaka said the party in the province has not been informed of the integrity commission’s decision.
The Sunday Times this week reported that the ANC’s integrity commission had instructed Limpopo premier Phophi Ramathuba to fire Radzilani as the province's social development MEC.
Radzilani, also the provincial deputy chairperson, is accused of involvement in the looting of about R2bn from the VBS Mutual Bank.
The instruction, according to several sources, came after Ramathuba appeared before the integrity commission last month, where she was questioned about the VBS scandal.
The commission made a damning finding in respect of Radzilani, who also serves as the Limpopo ANC’s deputy chair, and called for her to vacate her office.
Radzilani was implicated in the state capture report, with allegations that she received a R300,000 “Christmas” gift from VBS. She is said to have complained that it was too little and that she wanted at least R1.5m.
We are likely to see a breakaway and a division in Limpopo. You are likely to see [Radzilani] getting a lot of sympathy, mainly because she [has had to] appear before the integrity commission for the third time on the same issue.
— ANC leader in Limpopo
The ANC is expected to hold its national executive committee (NEC) to discuss what has been dubbed ‘the state of the organisation’, and where the integrity commission is expected to make submissions on several matters.
Radzilani’s matter is expected to form part of the reports the commission is expected to present before the ANC’s highest decision-making structure in between conferences.
Though it is believed that the integrity commission has submitted this recommendation and its engagement with Ramathuba to Luthuli House, the party will likely defer any decision to the NEC.
This is because the decision on Radzilani is likely to cause further divisions in the already divided Limpopo province.
This is as Radzilani is understood to still wield considerable influence in the province, with some saying she has the backing of its biggest region, Vhembe.
An ANC leader in Limpopo said the move against Radzilani risked dividing the party in Limpopo, especially in Vhembe, where she and her husband run a large church.
The leader said a lot of people were likely to sympathise with Radzilani, who he said was being victimised by the ANC. There was a risk she would defect to the MK Party, which has been struggling to make inroads in the province.
“We are likely to see a breakaway and a division in Limpopo,” the leader said. “You are likely to see [Radzilani] getting a lot of sympathy, mainly because she [has had to] appear before the integrity commission for the third time on the same issue. Even if it is the premier who received the instruction [to attend the commission], it is still her name that is being discussed.
“She is just in a report, [in the same way] Gwede [Mantashe] is in the Zondo report. So what is different? She is in the report just as Nomvula [Mokonyane] is in the report. So why is she being targeted? It goes back to the inconsistencies of the integrity commission. It seems there are certain rules for some people and different rules for others.”
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