'ANC will lose Western Cape'

2008-07-14 08:10

Cape Town - The axing of Eastern and Western Cape premiers Nosimo Balindlela and Ebrahim Rasool, will lead to a loss of support for the ruling party in both provinces, the Independent Democrats (ID) said on Sunday.

"It is now almost certain that the ANC will lose the Western Cape and suffer significant losses at the polls in the Eastern Cape," said ID leader Patricia De Lille.

"The damage in the Western Cape has already been done...The infighting of the ANC has already inflicted damage on a variety of state institutions on a national level and this is having a negative impact on service delivery, corruption, the fight against poverty and crime and job creation."

She said that service delivery in the Eastern Cape has been poor since 1994 and that a change of premier in the Eastern Cape will have no impact on service delivery.

The ANC's obsession with putting the positions of leaders and the interests of factions before the interests of the people will probably inflict more damage on service delivery in the province, said De Lille.

"This is not what we fought for in the struggle...the struggle was about putting the people before leadership positions and it is becoming increasingly clear that the ANC has lost sight of the visions and ideals of the struggle."

On the appointment of ANC Deputy-President Kgalema Motlanthe to Cabinet as the minister responsible for government business, De Lille said that the ID welcomed the decision and "it is our hope that Motlanthe's expertise will be applied to strengthen and deepen the debate at parliamentary level."

'Factional power plays'

Earlier the Democratic Alliance said that the ANC's apparent decision to axe Rasool and Balindlela showed party decisions were driven by "factional power plays."

DA leader Helen Zille said: "Service delivery was never a consideration for the ANC in making these decisions."

She said neither Balindlela nor Rasool had served their respective offices with distinction.

"Both their administrations have been tarnished by serious corruption allegations and service delivery failure."

She said they were not previously removed because they were in the "right" faction.

"It is only now that the political sands have shifted from Mbeki to Zuma that they face losing their jobs."

Power to remove premiers

Zille said the ANC NEC did not have the power to remove or appoint premiers.

According to the constitution premiers can only be removed by a provincial legislature resolution adopted by at least two-thirds of the members, she said.

"Also, the Constitution prescribes that a new Premier must be elected by a provincial legislature".

Zille said the DA members in the legislatures would vote for who they believe is best for the people of the province.

"We will not be used as a pawn in a political game between rival ANC factions," she said.

The African National Congress will hold a press conference on Monday afternoon amid reports that it has fired the premiers.

- SAPA