Paul Mashatile: The internal player

Vice President Paul Mashatile has been in the crosshairs of late – not least of all because his VIP Protection officers assaulted unarmed civilians. BizNews now takes a look at his ascendency to power. Veteran Gauteng Democratic Alliance (DA) politician Jack Bloom gives his take on Mashatile’s talent as an “internal” politician, his lack of “external” political achievement, his ambitious climb of the rungs of power, as well as the persistent allegations about his lavish lifestyle, his “fishy” associates, and the ‘Alex Mafia’. Bloom says if everything that’s been alleged about Mashatile is true, he was a pioneer of State Capture. – Chris Steyn

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Relevant timestamps from the video

00:00 – Introductions
00:34 – Jack Bloom on Paul Mashatile’s early political days in Gauteng
06:23 – On Mashatile’s ascension to Deputy President
07:36 – On Mashatile’s response to allegations made by News24
10:30 – On what kind of President Mashatile would be
11:52 – Concludes

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Comments from Jack Bloom on Deputy President Paul Mashatile

“He was always more of an internal politician. He let the officials do what they do, but time and again…stories floating around about fishy transactions and what became known as the ‘Alex Mafia’, a group of these friends from the earlier days and they seemed to be associated with fishy contracts and huge amounts of money and irregular procedures – and Paul Mashatile went from portfolio to portfolio and…I don’t think he left any particular portfolio, any particular department, in a better position than when he started. So he’s not a politician of great external accomplishment.

“There was a brief period when he was Premier of Gauteng…Very undistinguished, nothing particular happened. It was only for a period of seven months, and, of course, I think he was expecting to be appointed, reappointed as premier after the elections, and it didn’t happen because, according to one newspaper report at least, there were too many questions being asked about his fishy associations and the Alexandra Mafia. So it seemed he was too hot even for the ANC (African National Congress) to handle with all his fishy connections.

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“But these allegations have resurfaced, and time and again they come up again, but they’re just very topical now because it appears he’s quite close to becoming president of South Africa. So I think it’s very important we know who he associates with, who is the real Paul Mashatile, and what is his real capability in governing the country rather than having fishy businessmen who seem to lavish him with gifts.

“And then we see that he just seems to have a lifestyle and spending money way above what he could conceivably have earned during his time in public office. So where does he get all this money from? And I think that these questions need to be answered if he’s going to step into the highest position in our country.

“If everything that’s been alleged about Paul Mashatile is true, he was a pioneer of state capture.

“He works the branches and ANC delegates, and he’s managed to do that all the way to the deputy presidency…And what people didn’t notice was how successful he was in Gauteng as a launching pad for his aspirations. So he was provincial chair and a very powerful provincial chair. I don’t think anything happened without his say so. And he’s managed to work the internal politics very well.

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“I think his number one interest is Paul Mashatile. He never struck me as hugely, hugely ideological.

“And let me just say positive aspects; easy to get along with. I don’t think he ever played the race card…He was quite happy to have senior white officials in his department. He didn’t come into a department and purge…people with different political views from him or if they were white or not supporters of the ANC.

“I think he can be very pragmatic, but it’s one thing being pragmatic, which is a positive…if you’re going to advance the interests of the party, of the country…But if you’ve been pragmatic in how you climb the rungs of power and do what it takes to become president of this country and feather your own nest at the same time…That’s the sort of pragmatism I don’t think we should have.

“And unfortunately, as I said, he just never seemed to show any great political talent in fixing up departments that he was the head of, but he had great political talent in climbing up to the highest positions in the ANC.”