WATCH | 'Outsider' cannot turn ANC fortunes around — Mashatile

Deputy president Paul Mashatile says electing an outsider to lead the ANC will not help the party unite its members and revive its electoral fortunes.

In an interview with IN THE KNOW with Sowetan, a new Sowetan podcast, Mashatile said the ANC needed a leader who grew up in the party, and importantly, that person must be a card-carrying member.

His comments come as there are reports that some ANC leaders are touting the name of CAF president and billionaire Patrice Motsepe to succeed President Cyril Ramaphosa at the party's national conference in 2027.” The ANC was never led by outsiders. It won't succeed,” said Mashatie.

“Leaders of the ANC are people who have been schooled in the politics of the ANC... who grew up there, who know its dynamics. I don't understand how an outsider can come in and unite the ANC. It will have to be a leader who grew up in the ANC.”

Mashatile said Motsepe would qualify to contest for any position if he was an ANC member. “Patrice, as far as I know, has been involved in the politics of the ANC. I can't say whether he is a branch member. Maybe he is. If he is a member of the ANC, of course, he can participate in any activities of the ANC, including being elected to leadership positions. But there must never be a notion that the leadership of the ANC can be resolved by bringing someone who has never been part of the ANC, particularly in its leadership structures. It won’t work.”

Mashatile said although he and Motsepe had not yet spoken, there was still time before the party’s next leadership conference. “We have not had an opportunity to talk. I regard him as a friend. We will talk at some point. He has been busy travelling, I have been busy travelling but there will still be time, because the ANC leadership elections are only in 2027. I am sure I will have an opportunity to meet with my brother.”

A week ago, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula addressed the issue at the Chris Hani regional conference in the Eastern Cape, saying if Motsepe wanted to lead the party, he needed to prove that he was an active member with a branch. Speaking in isiXhosa, Mbalula said: “Leading the ANC is not like leading a football club. You work for this. This is not (Mamelodi) Sundowns or (Orlando) Pirates. You can't just wake up tomorrow and want to contest with Irvin Khoza or Kaizer Motaung. Stop likening leading the ANC to football. “

To applause, he added: “These people who say we want Motsepe, I don’t even know if he is a member of the ANC. Yes, we eat his money, he sends it from time to time. There must be discipline in the ANC. If Motsepe wants to lead, he must show that he is a member to the branches.”

Mashatile, however, declined to be drawn into Mbalula's utterances on Motsepe, who owns Sundowns. “I don't want to enter into the relationship between the SG and Patrice. I don’t know what prompted that response. The secretary-general has a responsibility to remind all of us that it is not time yet to talk about succession and to the extent that he was cautioning all those who were throwing names of everybody that it is not the time to do that.”

“I would have left it at that but once the secretary-general personally addressed Patrice Motsepe, that is not the area I want to enter. Maybe when I have an opportunity to talk to the SG, he will take me into confidence [about] what was happening there.”

On Monday, ANC national officials met with their SACP counterparts. Mashatile said the meeting discussed the SACP's decision to contest the elections independently of the ANC. “The SACP made it clear to us that it’s a decision of their congress, which their leadership cannot change. Given that situation, we have agreed to explore how we continue working together as an alliance.

“If we can find a modality where all of us can participate — the ANC, the SACP — without dividing ourselves; that is the route we will choose because many in the ANC are members of the communist party — including myself. I am still a member of the SACP. It is difficult to make members of the ANC choose. That is what has created this difficulty. The secretary-general is going to lead a team to see how we resolve it.”

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