Durban - Differences on how the ANC should react to the poor performance in the municipal elections were laid bare as the leaders of the tripartite alliance opined at two separate funerals in Inchanga outside Durban on Sunday.
The SACP warned that the ruling party should take the election results as a lesson, and hold a consultative conference to make an honest assessment. The ANC Youth League reiterated its call for an early conference while ANC regional leadership said President Jacob Zuma should finish his term in government and be replaced by African Union chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma leader of the party.
Speaking at the funeral of Xolani Ngcobo at Michael Gwala Community Hall, ANC Youth League secretary, Thanduxolo Sabelo, said the body wanted an early conference.
“As the ANCYL, we are calling for an early conference of the ANC, not because we don’t have trust in the current leadership, but we are calling for a renewal of the ANC.
“We want the ANC to be renewed so that it can be a better tool to service the needs of the people,” Sabelo said.
ANC eThekwini regional secretary, Bheki Ntuli, said Zuma should remain at the helm of the ruling party and backed Dlamini-Zuma as his successor.
“We want the president to stay in office until the end of his term. We are saying President Zuma is going nowhere, and he will lead until his term in office comes to an end, as we had elected him in Mangaung,” Ntuli said.
He charged that those who wanted Zuma gone were the ones causing upheavals in the branches.
“eThekwini region agrees with the stance of the ANCYL that the next president of the ANC should be a female, and we won’t look too far because we want Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and we don’t see the reason to look any further.
“She’s served in national departments, and led the entire African continent as chairwoman of the African Union, she’s a woman with experience,” he said.
But SACP KZN chairman, James Nxumalo, said the people were fed up with leadership that did not listen to the people.
“They are too arrogant,” Nxumalo told mourners at the funeral of SACP member Nontsikelelo Blose, that was held just kilometres away.
He said the problems in the ANC were the rampant factionalism and gate-keeping, which were the root cause of problems in Inchanga.
“People make the ANC their family affair. They just put into their own pockets.”
He noted the dramatic decline in ANC membership from 1.3 million in 2012 Mangaung conference to 700 000 in last year’s general council.
Nxumalo also said the ruling party lost the three metros Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane not because people did not like the ANC any more.
“People just stayed at home,” he said, adding that the DA, EFF and IFP did not perform well on their own.
Thulas Nxesi, SACP national deputy chairman, said the ANC should stop being denialists, but confront their own problems.
“We are here where we are because of internal divisions, factionalism, gate-keeping and infighting. Some factions are fed with money from higher structures. That is a fact,” Nxesi said.
The Public Works Minister said the country was on fire because candidates were imposed to be “voting cows” in councils.
He said the steep decline in ANC support was there for all to see.
“Whoever does not see this is blind. He is in a denialist mood,” he said. “People are teaching us a lesson. If we don’t learn, we must kiss 2019 goodbye.”
Nxesi also said the ANC should hold a consultative conference to do an honest and frank assessment on the state of the nation.
He took a swipe at those calling for an early conference, charging that they did so because numbers were on their side because of gate-keeping.
“We don’t want voting cows. We want people to do an honest assessment and have consensus on how we approach 2017, we have consensus on how we approach 2019.
“If we allow the status quo to continue, I repeat: let’s kiss 2019 goodbye,” Nxesi said.