Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former ANC North West chairperson Supra Mahumapelo has finally broken his silence on why he opted not to stand for nomination after being touted as one of the seven possible candidates for the position of ANC chairperson in the province.
Mahumapelo said although branches wanted him to stand again as the province’s chairperson, he had decided against it as other provinces were calling on him to stand for election for a national executive committee position instead.
He has since thrown his support behind former human settlements MEC Nono Maloyi who is standing against current Premier Bushy Maape for the position of provincial chairperson.
ANC stalwart Maape goes head-to-head with ex-MEC Maloyi for North West chairperson position
Mahumapelo said, “… there are people that are saying I have withdrawn from the provincial conference; that is not true; my position was never to stand.
“For a candidate to withdraw, it would mean they were asked to stand at the conference, and this was not the case.”
He said he has been in discussions with both camps (the Maape and Maloyi camps), and that discussions are at an advanced stage with the Maloyi’s camp as they were in the ANC Youth League together.
Mahumapelo added that, “… numerous members from across all provinces have asked him to stand for an NEC position or even one of the top six national positions.
News24 understands that NEC members, including the ANC Deputy President, David Mabuza, called Mahumapelo into a steering committee meeting on Saturday and negotiated that he would not go ahead with a court application to interdict the entire conference from going ahead.
Speculation is rife that Mahumapelo may have been promised an NEC position in return, but he remained mum when asked about this on Sunday morning.
His inclusion in the NEC would be a shot to the arm for the RET faction, whose influence within the NEC has declined. ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa is believed to enjoy over 75% of support from the NEC.
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