Factions, contestations and mining's missing millions: the African National Congress in North West province since 1994

Abstract

This article traces the fortunes of the ANC in the North West province (NWP) since 1994. While political developments mirror many of those at the national level, there are some particularities about this region that set it apart from the rest of South Africa. The new province was an uneasy amalgam of the Bophuthatswana bantustan and the western Transvaal. The former had experienced considerable unrest due to Lucas Mangope's resistance to incorporation into post-1994 South Africa and his flirtation with regional, conservative politics. The latter was the home of the white right, exemplified by Eugene Terreblanche's Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB). Popo Molefe the first premier, made significant strides in building racial reconciliation, and introduced some successful economic initiatives. However, very soon into his term, he was faced with opposition, and government drifted to elite, personal politics and in-fighting. This trend was continued and deepened into Molefe's second term and into the new decade. The article describes and analyses the cleavages in the ANC and suggests reasons for the emergence of these byzantine affiliations and cabals. These events are set against another aspect of the NWP - its mining industry. It examines the ANCs attempts to provide support for the industry, where it had the duty or means to intervene in the troubled platinum belt. The article concludes with the mismanagement of the 'D' account, in which the royalties and other benefits accruing to traditional authorities have supposedly been vested.