Zikalala sorry for snubbing minister

Newly-elected ANC KZN chairman Sihle Zikalala. File picture: Motshwrai Mofokeng

Newly-elected ANC KZN chairman Sihle Zikalala. File picture: Motshwrai Mofokeng

Published Nov 16, 2015

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Durban - Provincial chairman Sihle Zikalala has apologised for apparently snubbing Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Senzeni Zokwana when he was shaking hands in celebration of his victory as the new head of the ANC in the province.

What looked like an embarrassing incident for the minister was captured on a video, which found its way to social networks. The incident happened at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg last weekend.

The SACP in KwaZulu-Natal said Zikalala’s snubbing of Zokwana, who is also the SACP’s national chairman, was deliberate and showed the level of soured relations between the tripartite alliance partners.

Zikalala ran up to the stage soon after he was announced as the new provincial chairman, replacing Premier Senzo Mchunu. He started shaking hands with people, but when Zokwana extended his hand, Zikalala dashed past him and proceeded to shake hands with ANC-deployed convener in the province Joe Phaahla and others.

Zokwana’s hand was seen following Zikalala as he walked on by. Zikalala has since apologised for what he called an “honest mistake”.

“Comrade Zokwane is a leader I hold in high regard. Throughout my service as the provincial secretary, he was always supportive of our programmes. When I heard about the incident, I immediately called him and apologised,” he said.

Poor Zokwana

A video posted by Zwelinzima Vavi (@zwelinzima_vavi) on Nov 10, 2015 at 9:03am PST

Former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi posted the video on his Instagram account and wrote: “Poor Zokwana.” However, delegates who saw the incident said the video was doctored.

“What does not appear on the video is that the chairman later returned to shake the minister’s hand. He had skipped him by mistake, maybe because he was too excited,” said a delegate from eThekwini.

People responded on Instagram to Vavi’s post with different interpretations of the incident.

Julius Nkosi said: “This doesn’t bode well for unity so fervently preached.” Zvanyaza said: “What unity, this is a sign that all is not well”.

Alpheus Mamoleleam said: “I guess the problem is taxpayers’ money.” Ngqalin said: “He was nervous, I don’t think it was on purpose.” Zokwana’s spokesman, Bomikazi Molapo, said she had seen a different video that showed Zikalala going back to shake the minister’s hand.

“The complete video shows the part where he skipped the minister but later returned to shake his hand. He shook his hand, it is just that the person who circulated that video does not show everything,” she said.

SACP provincial secretary Themba Mthembu said: “We strongly believe that such an unfortunate incident was a public display of the feeling of an individual. It’s got nothing to do with the relationship of the SACP and the ANC.”

Political analyst Protas Madlala said the snubbing showed that there were deep problems between the ANC and SACP.

“The SACP is in the core of the fight over the eThekwini region, as it was over the provincial conference where the SACP was backing (Senzo) Mchunu. The relationship between the alliance is really not well, as Kgalema Motlanthe had pointed out,” he said.

The Mercury

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