DURBAN - ANGRY ANC members are calling for the removal of the current provincial leadership at the ANC elective conference next year, after the party’s poor showing in the local government elections.
Members who spoke to the Daily News on Thursday said the leadership under chairperson Sihle Zikalala and secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli had failed the movement, and therefore should not be retained after the conference.
One member, who asked not to be named, said he and other members wanted provincial treasurer Nomusa Dube-Ncube to take over as chairperson, and the secretary to be Mxolisi Kaunda. In the slate that was seen by the Daily News on Thursday, former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede was touted as treasurer-general.
The member further said that the party lost significantly in the election due to the current leadership, which he alleged had not listened to their views.
“We are just waiting for the conference to elect new leadership who will listen to our views. We see comrade Nomusa Dube-Ncube as the right leader to take us to the 2024 elections; otherwise we must kiss the province goodbye if we go to the national general elections in 2024 with the current leadership,” the member said.
These sentiments were echoed by some councillors in Umngeni Municipality, who blasted the provincial leadership for costing the party the municipality in the election.
Two councillors who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity said the leadership's protection of officials who were allegedly involved in corruption was one of the key reasons why the DA snatched the municipality from the party.
In the 25-seat council the DA won 13 seats, while the ANC got 10 and two went to the EFF. The councillors said that during their campaign the DA had capitalised on the corruption taking place in the municipality, which the provincial leadership had allegedly ignored. They also allegedly protected a senior manager said to have been involved in the looting of funds.
One councillor said the leadership had been alerted timeously to allegations of corruption involving senior officials, and added that even after the Special Investigating Unit’s damning report on the looting of funds, the leadership continued to protect them.
Another said that the leadership’s failure to intervene in the problems facing the municipality also led to the resignation of deputy mayor Nompumelelo Buthelezi, who joined the DA on the eve of election day. The councillor said these issues contributed to the party’s demise.
Senior ANC members in eThekwini shared the views of those calling for the removal of the current leadership; however, they differed on the names on the slate, saying there had been no consultation before the slate was created.
Speaking for Gumede, Ntando Khuzwayo said there was nothing she could say about the list because no one had consulted her.
Commenting on the mentioning of her name on the list, Dube-Ncube condemned the pointing of fingers and added that they worked as a collective, therefore all of them in the top five took full responsibility for the defeat.
“Those people are wrong because we work as a collective, and we are still going to sit down to analyse these results,” Dube-Ncube said.
Kaunda’s spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said Kaunda would not comment.
ANC spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said it was wrong for the provincial leadership to be blamed because candidates were rejected by people in their wards “and it was not the provincial leaders who were contesting elections”.
Daily News