Cape Town – Paul Mashatile’s position as deputy president is secure – for now.
After news reports suggesting Mashatile feared he would be the sacrificial lamb in any ANC coalition deal with the DA, it appears the deputy president has escaped unscathed from a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) on Thursday night, 6 June.
TimesLive reports that according to NEC insiders, Mashatile is likely to retain his position in the seventh administration.
News reports have suggested that that DA leader John Steenhuisen is angling for a leadership position in a government of national unity (GNU), with ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula having indicated in the past that forming a GNU will open the way for the appointment of two deputies. Other news reports suggest that the Constitution will have to be amended to accommodate two deputy presidents.
In 1994, Nelson Mandela famously appointed his National Party opponent FW de Klerk as one of two deputy presidents – Thabo Mbeki was the other.
Mashatile and the DA are not on good terms, with the opposition party laying criminal charges against him in February 2024, following allegations of corruption.
Meanwhile, News24 published an expose on Mashatile on Friday, 7 June, alleging that R8 million in payments made in 2017, while Mashatile was Human Settlements MEC in Gauteng, to a law firm were questionable. The law firm is currently linked to a foundation in the name of Mashatile’s deceased wife.
A 2018 whistleblower report to the Gauteng Partnership Fund board raised red flags over untransparent board appointments, board fees and questionable payments to a law firm linked to Deputy President Paul Mashatile. | @azarrahk @CowansViewhttps://t.co/kkYHFODf6B
— News24 🇿🇦 (@News24) June 7, 2024
Mashatile has claimed the allegations are a witchhunt against him.
“It is evident that both the DA and News24 are engaged in a process of ventilating and regurgitating allegations which they present as objective news and analysis,” Mashatile’s spokesman Keith Khoza said.
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