Breaking Supra’s grip on power won’t be easy
Supra Mahupamelo looks set to lose his premiership of the North West province — but as long as his provincial executive is kept intact, he will remain in the driving seat. This is Cyril Ramaphosa’s next big test
Supra Mahumapelo may well resign as premier of the North West this week, but as long as he remains chair of the ANC in the province, his grip on power will be difficult to break.The next battle for president Cyril Ramaphosa is over whether to dissolve the party’s North West provincial executive committee (PEC) — a decision that will have to be taken by the ANC’s highest decision-making body between conferences, the national executive committee (NEC).If he remains as provincial chair, Mahumapelo will continue to exert influence over the North West government — through networks built on patronage and power — and continue to control deployments to key posts.Whether the NEC dissolves the North West PEC will be a key test of Ramaphosa’s political power over the structure. The NEC elected at Nasrec in December was a mixed bag between two factions vying for control of the party, one aligned to Ramaphosa and the other to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is now minister in the presidency.Ramaphos...
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