The ANC's national working committee (NWC) is due to meet on Wednesday, and while it has not said whether North West premier Supra Mahumapelo's fate will be discussed, it is possible that ANC leaders will use the opportunity to call for a special meeting of the national executive committee (NEC), Daily Maverick reported.
Weeks of violent protest in the North West have followed calls for Mahumapelo to resign. President Cyril Ramaphosa has visited the province, and so has the NWC, but it is only the NEC that can recall the North West premier, according to Daily Maverick.
The next NEC meeting is reportedly scheduled for the end of May. It was reported that three out of four meetings between the NWC and North West regions collapsed last week.
Ramaphosa and other NWC members might use the meeting on Wednesday to call for a special NEC sitting to discuss the issue, Daily Maverick was told.
About 340 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence that began on April 18, according to IOL.
The chaos continued last week, with shops and buildings damaged and set alight in Delarayville, News24 reported. The local traffic department was reportedly set alight, and roads were blocked off with protesters. Local residents were reportedly threatened with pangas and police used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a mob that was stoning cars and using slingshots to hit the police.
A teenage boy was shot dead by police during the violence last Tuesday. Police urged parents to keep a close eye on their children after it emerged that many of the protesters blocking roads and looting were young people, according to IOL.
Business Day reported on Monday that it is now a matter of if, not when, Mahumapelo will go. This is reportedly due to Mahumapelo's governance record, and the ANC's electoral performance in the province.
Last week, the EFF reportedly won a ward from the ANC in a by-election, which the ANC won with 51% in 2016. This time, the EFF reportedly won 48% of the vote.
Successive Auditor-General's reports have also laid bare the governance failures in the North West. According to Business Day, the 2016/17 report said: "Most auditees [91%] still had findings on compliance with legislation, specifically in the areas of irregular expenditure and non-adherence to procurement and contract management prescripts, which also resulted in an increase in the irregular expenditure incurred from R3-billion in 2015/16 to R3.6-billion in 2016/17."