ANC North West chairperson Nono Maloyi denies running provincial government ‘from the comfort of his home’

Critics have accused Maloyi of creating two power centres in the province, potentially weakening the ANC's position in legislature

ANC North West chairperson Nono Maloyi has refuted claims from disgruntled party members that he is running the provincial government “from the comfort of his home”.

Maloyi did not stand for election as premier or for any position in the North West administration, opting instead to leave government and focus on his business interests after the 29 May national and provincial elections.

The ANC’s deputy chairperson, Lazzy Mokgosi, is the premier of the province.

Maloyi’s critics have accused him of creating two centres of power in the province by refusing to join the government, arguing that it will eventually weaken the party, which now occupies 23 seats in the legislature following the May poll.

The ANC in North West has been ravaged by factionalism since the days of former premier and chairperson Supra Mahumapelo, but this year managed to improve on its performance by taking two more seats in the provincial legislature than it did in 2019.

In an interview with the Mail & Guardian on the sidelines of the party’s national executive committee meeting in Ekurhuleni, Maloyi denied claims that he was pulling strings behind the scenes to run the North West government.

He said the only centre of power was the ANC and all those in government were deployees of the party.

“I am not running the government sitting at home. That government is led by the deputy chairperson who happens to be the premier. I’ve said that the ANC is the centre of power and all those in government account to the ANC in terms of the implementation of the manifesto, including policies of the ANC,” Maloyi said.

“I don’t understand where it [the accusation] is coming from. The premier decided on his executive. He came to the leadership and said ‘these are the people who should be part of my executive’. We had a discussion and we gave him a go ahead.”

In June, ANC sources told the M&G the branches had started lobbying for Maloyi to be removed as North West chairperson for refusing to join the government to prevent impending tension with Mokgosi.

“I can tell you, what usually happens is that, if a leader of a political party opts not to be in government, it means they have to give instruction on a daily basis. Some of our deployees will say they will never be controlled by someone who is outside,” one source said at the time. 

There was unhappiness over the decision at the branch level, they added.

“This is the concept that is starting to come out in the minds of the many comrades that we want to avoid a situation of two centres of power. There is already a vote of no confidence in the chair for his refusal to go into government. Everyone is asking why he still wants power,” the source said.

“The person who refused to be the premier wanted to dictate who should be where and who should occupy which strategic positions. Who goes where should be the prerogative of the premier. The premier will find it difficult to work with those that have been imposed on him by someone who is outside because those people will never account to the premier but to their master who is outside of government.”

The sources also raised concerns about whether Maloyi would be able to fund his lifestyle without a government salary.

In the interview with the M&G, Maloyi said he had deliberately left former premier Bushy Maape to continue in his role as premier despite defeating him at the 2022 conference, which saw him elected as chair.

Historically the ANC has appointed its provincial chairpersons as its premier candidates to ensure there are no power battles between the party’s structures and its deployees in government.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the appointment of Nomusa Dube-Ncube as premier in 2022 turned out to be a disaster, with the province’s chairperson, Siboniso Duma, repeatedly upstaging her at government events.

Duma earned the nickname of “shadow premier” over his antics, which not only embarrassed the provincial government but also affected Dube-Ncube’s ability to do her job when the real power rested with her cabinet junior.

Maloyi said: “I said my election as the chairperson of the ANC is not my election as premier. I said the premier must remain, complete his term and the premier and the chairperson are going to work together wonderfully.

“The same applies now. Myself and the deputy chair of the ANC are working together. They are accounting to the ANC and they are implementing the manifesto of the ANC and we are quite excited. This myth that there are two centres of power does not exist. It exists in the imagination of the people who do not understand what the ANC is.”

Asked how he would sustain his lifestyle without a government salary, Maloyi said he had been a MP for more than 25 years and was also a successful businessperson.

“I don’t depend on the salary from the government for me to survive in life and I have never depended on the salary of the government,” he said.

Maloyi warned ANC members to “never depend on a government salary”.

“I’ve said to those who are young that they must always go to school, and complete their studies so that you don’t make politics your career. Politics can be a career of anybody where our electoral system is such that you are deployed by an organisation and the organisation can redeploy you when it feels you are not performing,” he said.

Some branches in the province have also accused Maloyi of purging those who did not support him at the provincial elective conference where he was elected as chairperson, but he insisted this was “far from the truth”.

“You must go back to the North West and interact with branches of the ANC. They will tell you that my priority is to unify the ANC and to make sure all members of the ANC feel at home in the party. As we speak members of the ANC are excited with the leadership that we are providing. What’s being said, I’m not sure where it’s coming from,” he said.