Fransman: from headboy to ANC heavy
COMBATIVE and outspoken, yet comfortable in the shoes of a diplomat tactfully negotiating the release of a high-profile prisoner abroad.
These are some of the ways used to describe Marius Fransman, who has led the charge, as leader of the official opposition in the Western Cape, to wrest control of the province from the DA.
A man of many talents, with questionable friends. And enemies, who claim he used them as cannon fodder to rake in votes for the ANC during last year’s general elections.
Raised on the Cape Flats, surrounded by poverty, Fransman matriculated with an exemption from Bishop Lavis Secondary School, where he was headboy, according to his official profile.
He started his career as a teacher in the town of Vredendal on the West Coast, where he would later serve as mayor.
Rising quickly through the ranks of the ANC, Fransman served as MEC of transport and public works in the Western Cape until 2008, when he be- came MEC for health.
President Jacob Zuma appointed him deputy minister of international relations in late 2010. It was in this post that he earned kudos for helping to secure the freedom of paediatric oncologist Professor Cyril Karabus. Karabus had been held in custody for months in the United Arab Emirates in connection with the death of a child patient he had treated there.
When Karabus finally arrived back in South Africa, Fransman declared: “I personally travelled to the UAE and met representatives of the government as well as Professor Karabus . . . In short, the South African government went an extra mile on behalf of its citizen.”
But there have long been rumblings within the ANC about the company that Fransman keeps; some of his friends and associates share links with gangs and the underworld.
The final straw for many was when Fransman was spotted warmly greeting controversial businessman Mark Lifman at Zuma’s 72nd birthday rally at Vygieskraal Stadium in Athlone on April 12 last year. The Sun- LIFE OF THE PARTY: Marius Fransman, left, watches as President Zuma celebrates his birthday in Athlone day Times published a photograph of the two together at the event, where Lifman was a VIP guest.
“People are scared of him [Lifman] and yet he’s a VIP guest of President Zuma and the chairman [Fransman]. How can this possibly be acceptable when the Western Cape is crippled by gangsters and crime?” said a senior ANC leader in Cape Town.
Fransman, at the time, declined to say whether he had invited Lifman as a VIP guest. “This is a free country . . . Did you know that the ANC doesn’t ban people? Mark Lifman has the right to attend our rallies. There is nothing sinister about that . . . He definitely didn’t give us money,” he said.
Fransman was left out of Zuma’s new cabinet after the general elections, having chosen instead to lead the ANC caucus in the Western Cape.
Robert Schrire, politics professor at the University of Cape Town, said Fransman was more of a liability than an asset to the ANC.
“He lacks stature in the coloured community and carries a lot of baggage. What the ANC does not have is a credible community leader with a strong foot in the church or the agricultural sector.”
Three senior ANC members, who asked to remain anonymous, said Fransman’s associates included prominent Cape Town businessman Quinton Marinus, known as “Mr Big”.
His favourite haunts in the city include Cubana, a trendy restaurant and bar frequented by politicians. — Additional reporting Pearlie Joubert