Durban - ANC branches in eThekwini are now pinning their hopes on President Jacob Zuma’s intervention for the regional conference to successfully sit.
The Mercury has been informed that Zuma and other national top six members will be in Durban early next week. ANC provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala said the national executive committee would come to the city to help the province in talking to branches.
“But the province would continue to organise the regional conference,” he said.
The provincial leadership met the branches last weekend when it was resolved that the senior national leadership should come to the city to resolve the crisis of repeated failures to hold the conference.
“We are expecting them to come up with the new date for the conference,” said a source.
The weekend’s meeting of branch chairmen, secretaries and treasurers followed the conference held at Greyville racecourse earlier this month which was aborted because of disagreements about delegates.
“The branches insisted that the provincial executive committee should step aside and the national leadership organise the conference,” said a senior ANC leader in Durban.
The delegates at the meeting also called for the disbandment of the provincial task team, which was in charge of organising the regional conference. They alleged that the team was hand-picked in order to act with bias.
“This task team must go and the national leaders must form their own team to take over,” said another source.
The other top six leaders are secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, national chairwoman Baleka Mbete, deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte and treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize.
Sources who attended the meeting at Coastlands Hotel in the Point said party provincial chairman Senzo Mchunu was confronted by branch leaders who accused him of dividing the ANC in the region for his own benefit.
When contacted, ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said: “We are dealing with the matter internally. That is all I can tell you.”
The eThekwini region’s problems began late last year when the conference was postponed owing to chaotic branch meetings. It was finally held early this year, where Nxumalo defeated Gumede by 14 votes. But the new leadership was disbanded after it emerged that the province had ignored a national executive committee instruction to exclude wards 16 (Pinetown area), 30 (Mayville/ Sherwood) and 74 (Lamontville), since they had failed audit tests.
Mchunu was accused of being hellbent in pushing for eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo to become chairman of the biggest region in the country.
Nxumalo is contesting the position with former regional treasurer Zandile Gumede.
The racecourse conference at the beginning of this month was disbanded after delegates supporting Gumede demanded that Ward 37, in Newlands West, be included. This was after the province had ignored an instruction from Mantashe to include the ward.
It is believed Mchunu faces a challenge from Zikalala for his position as provincial chairman. The provincial conference is expected to be in September.
Nxumalo’s supporters were allegedly concerned that the intervention of the national executive committee would not help “because there are national leaders who are part of destabilising the province”.
Nxumalo is believed to be backing Mchunu, while Gumede is siding with Zikalala. Anyone who won eThekwini was sure to win the province, as it was the biggest region in the country, the source said.
The Mercury