Three-way face-off in Limpopo

Trio of ANC heavyweights being touted as likely to face off for the top job in the province

- Lunga Mzangwe

As the ANC in Limpopo prepares for its conference next year, Polokwane mayor John Mpe, premier Phophi Ramathuba and Mopani district mayor Pule Shayi have emerged as the three favourites for the post of provincial chairperson.

However, Mpe alleges there has been a targeted campaign by his detractors to have him arrested over corruption allegations in a bid to force him to step aside and to prevent him from running for the position.

In leaked documents that surfaced on social media last month, Mpe and the Polokwane municipality manager Thuso Nemugumoni are accused of corruption over awarding a tender worth R56 million to Nemungumoni’s boyfriend.

Mpe denied the allegation, saying his accusers were creating a false impression that they were whistleblowers exposing corruption in the city because they were unhappy about being cut off from contracts.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation has since withdrawn a court application to force the municipality and Mpe’s Makoro Foundation to provide it with bank statements to check whether he had received kickbacks from companies doing business with the city via his foundation.

"I believe that there is this issue of trying to abuse the step-aside [rule].

"If you can check, investigations have become so much intensified [ahead of the regional] conference and political persecution has also intensified towards major political events where people would want others to step aside," Mpe said.

"We have seen when we were going toward the regional conference, where at some stage they [his detractors] would write that you are going to be arrested tomorrow and at some stage people were at a police station having a night vigil saying I’m going to be arrested the following day."