The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal wants to ban all paraphernalia and songs that praise any ANC individual other than the president or fallen heroes.
This is one of a number of radical policy positions that the ANC in the province will take to the party’s national policy conference at Midrand in Gauteng later this month.
While the ANC in KZN was at pains to point out that this resolution had nothing to do with protecting the ANC president, Jacob Zuma, the proposal was very likely to be seen as seeking to protect him ahead of what is set to be a politically heated build-up to the Mangaung elective conference in December.
Earlier this year, angry ANC Youth League members, protesting against the disciplinary charges imposed on the fired league president, Julius Malema, burnt ANC T-shirts bearing the face of Zuma in a protest outside the ANC’s head office, Luthuli House, in Joburg.
ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Sihle Zikalala said the party’s national executive council had resolved “a long time ago” that the only face of the ANC was its president.
“But I am not campaigning for anyone,” he said.
Zikalala said that any member who continued singing songs or using any paraphernalia lobbying for candidates should face disciplinary action.
Also on the issue of discipline, the local ANC rejected the proposal, in the policy documents being debated ahead of the conference, which suggested that the national disciplinary committees should be composed of people who were not members of the party’s national executive committee.
“It will undermine the political authority of structures. Members of the national disciplinary committee should be drawn from the national executive committee and this should be the case in all lower structures,” he said.
KZN is also against any member of the committee representing any ANC members being disciplined or standing as a witness during disciplinary proceedings.
When youth league members recently appeared before the party’s disciplinary committee some national executive committee members, like Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Tokyo Sexwale, testified on behalf of Malema and others.
However KZN wants this stopped, saying it had the potential to divide the ANC.
“Where a member of the national executive committee represents a comrade charged by the same committee, this has the potential of undermining unity and cohesion of the organisation. This also gives the person undue advantage as that member would have participated in discussions leading to the charging of such a member,” said Zikalala.
The ANC KZN policy workshop also rejected “classical nationalisation” of mines, saying this would cause a “massive economic calamity” and cost the state at least R1 trillion.
“Ours is a mixed economy wherein the state, private sector and labour should play a more meaningful role in the development of the country’s economy. The state intervention must include taxation, royalties, ownership of strategic assets solely or in partnership with the private sector and equity ownership to certain companies,” said Zikalala.
This resolution is likely to set the ANC in KZN on a collision course with the youth league which is the main sponsor of wholesale nationalisation of mines.
The ANC in KZN has the biggest support of all provinces and will send 509 delegates to the national policy conference, which will have 3 554 delegates. - The Mercury