ANC mum on premiers report
2008-07-14 11:28
Johannesburg - The African National Congress (ANC) would not confirm on Monday media reports that it is planning to axe the premiers of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
"We are not going to rush because the media has pre-empted the process," ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that the ANC national executive committee had decided to sack Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool and Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela with immediate effect.
Mantashe said officials would travel to the Eastern Cape and Western Cape on Monday to address problems in these provinces.
He said that the information contained in media reports, "may be a product at the end of that process".
The Sunday Times reported that the decision to dismiss Rasool and Balindlela was taken at the party's tense NEC meeting in Gauteng this weekend, as the ANC battled to contain chaos in its structures across the country ahead of next year's general elections.
- SAPA