Durban - An ANC branch in Msinga, northern KwaZulu-Natal, has written a letter to the party’s provincial and national leadership outlining how its branch general meeting last week was manipulated in favour of presidential candidate Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
Simphiwe Mbhele, secretary of Tugela Ferry Branch, wrote the letter on Friday asking KZN ANC secretary Super Zuma, and party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe to nullify the BGM that sat on Thursday.
He accused branch chairman Nkonzo Ndlovu of having been party to irregularities.
This comes as the battle to succeed President Jacob Zuma in December creates serious tensions among some members in KZN, with allegations of usage of guns to intimidate others.
The relationship between Mbhele and Ndlovu has broken down as a result of their differences on who should be elected the next leader of the ANC.
Mbhele alleged Ndlovu had flouted ANC BGM guidelines in order to get Dlamini Zuma nominated over Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa without opposition.
He said the branch has 124 card-carrying members, but out of 45 participants in the BGM held last Thursday, only 28 of them were legitimate members. He said 17 others were just ordinary community members brought to the meeting because they supported Dlamini Zuma.
“Our BGM did not meet the quorum, and on top of that there were people who were not members. Because of our 124 membership we should at least have 63 members to form the BGM quorum.
“On entering the venue, people’s membership was not verified even though I insisted that should be done. I even asked another person why he signed on the name of the comrade who was not present,” said Mbhele.
Mbhele’s complaints are among many that have been raised in KZN since the process started two weeks ago. They are mainly about gate-keeping.
Mbhele said he sent the letter of dispute to Mantashe and Zuma on Friday. According to the letter, the voters roll that was used was not similar to the one Mbhele had signed after the final auditing.
He said one member appeared to have renewed his membership on March 17 this year whereas that member had died in 2015.
“There was no verification of members, no IDs were shown, and signatures were forged,” Mbele said.
He alleged that ANC Nkosi Bambatha regional executive committee (REC) member Joe Motloung and people who were in the REC took control of the membership roll. “The BGM venue had gun-toting goons who intimidated members.” Zuma denied knowing about the Tugela Ferry complaint.