He’s back: The lesser-spotted David Mabuza resurfaces in Free State

They used to call our deputy president “the cat”, and true to feline form, David Mabuza has been off doing his own thing during the lockdown. We’ve seen or heard barely anything from the second-most powerful man in the country, despite the chaos caused by this coronavirus crisis.

Where is David Mabuza? Hiding in plain sight, apparently

It’s been reported that Mabuza is in attendance across all Cabinet and National Coronavirus Command Centre meetings. Yet his public engagements have been non-existent. That’s all set to change on Friday, however, as Ramaphosa’s right-hand man visits the Free State to assess the implementation of Alert Level 3.

A statement, released by government this morning, details his visit to the Mangaung Municipality. The metro has become the epicentre for the provincial spread of Coronavirus. According to the state’s communication, Mabuza will be there ensure that health structures in the region are coping with a rise in infections:

“Deputy President David Mabuza will on Friday 5 June 2020 visit the Free State Province as the country enters Alert Level 3 of the risk-adjusted approach to easing the nationwide lockdown.”

“The visit to Mangaung is as a result of the decision by the National Coronavirus Command Council that the President and the Deputy President should assess the state of readiness of all provinces, in terms of functionality of provincial and district coronavirus response structures.”

“Other areas of focus will be the state of readiness of provincial health infrastructure in responding to the coronavirus pandemic and the extent of the reach of economic coronavirus relief measures to those that these interventions are intended for. The visit is a continuation of the work of government to flatten the curve.”

A power struggle for the deputy president?

As is usually the case with David Mabuza, rumours about his desire to play ‘kingmaker’ have resurfaced during his time out of the public eye. Mail and Guardian report that he’s recently been focused on securing his position by the time the 2022 ANC Electives come round.

Zweli Mkhize, of all people, has been tipped to replace Mabuza as deputy president. Although Ramaphosa’s position may be safe heading into the next general election, “the cat” may see one of his nine lives chalked-off.