The anger and anxiety of the people of North West are understandable. While we will never condone the chaos and anarchy on the streets of that province, we realise that the pain is a result of a government that has been in paralysis for years. So the demand that the man responsible for this be shown the door is not unreasonable.
There is only one solution to this. Supra Mahumapelo must be removed from office. It cannot be right that three months after these protests erupted, he remains in his post as premier. The protests did not start this month, but in January, when staff of the department of social development and members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union downed tools. A month later they were joined by their department of health counterparts.
Two weeks ago the protests turned violent when hundreds of residents of Mahikeng, angry at the lack of service delivery and the reluctance to remove Mahumapelo, went on a rampage, shutting down the province's administrative capital and looting shops and damaging property.This was exactly a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa left for London, leading a senior delegation to the Commonwealth summit. This visit presented Ramaphosa with an opportunity to market and promote South Africa as an investment destination. He had planned to use his time there to engage with major investors and business leaders based in the UK.
As he landed at Heathrow Airport, demonstrators were setting fire to buses and looting shops in Mahikeng and accusing Mahumapelo of masterminding maladministration, fraud and corruption amounting to about R160-million. As the protests intensified, they forced Ramaphosa to abandon his programme in London and return.
"What brought me back from London was the concern that I had when we started receiving reports about ... the burning and torching of buildings, looting that had started happening here, and the protests that were under way," he said.
We were all excited as his return brought a ray of hope. After a meeting of the ANC national leadership with Mahumapelo and his provincial counterparts, Ramaphosa announced the ANC would engage in further consultation on calls for the premier's dismissal. It is now more than a week since he pledged to act. As disappointed as we were, we remained hopeful as Ramaphosa had promised these consultations would not take too long. However, not much has changed over the past seven days.Yes, the cabinet this week placed the provincial departments of health and treasury under administration. While these actions are commendable, with Mahumapelo still in charge, very little will be achieved. We understand Ramaphosa's strategy. He has to tread carefully because the pre-Nasrec factions in the ANC have not been dismantled. His opponents are yet to accept the conference outcome. There are murmurings about a plan to boot him out before the end of his first term. Acting hastily may give his detractors more ammunition.That is why, like he did with Jacob Zuma, Ramaphosa is buying time until a majority in the ANC is convinced that Mahumapelo will be a liability ahead of next year's elections. Top officials and the national working committee have visited the province on several occasions, documenting the views of party structures and communities. By the time the matter reaches the highest decision-making body, the national executive committee, there should be tangible evidence to support Mahumapelo's axing.
As much as we understand all of this, Ramaphosa must learn to sometimes take unpopular decisions for the good of the country. If Mahumapelo does not step aside voluntarily, he must be booted out...