Durban - As the contest to lead the eThekwini ANC region heats up ahead of voting for the regional top five, Zandile Gumede’s running mate contends that the failure of the youth league of the region to agree on its voting delegates was because of interference by some leaders of the mother body.
Musa Nciki, who is running for the position of the regional secretary under Gumede’s slate in the ongoing elective conference taking place at the Durban ICC, said that all the league needed was support, not manipulation by some leaders.
WATCH: ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson, Sihle Zikalala, says it is worrying that there are some senior leaders of the party who are interfering with regional and provincial conferences. He says this should come to an end. #ANC #ANCEThekwini @ZANewsFlash pic.twitter.com/NUt5nzefBz
— Daily News (@DailyNewsSA) April 9, 2022
This was in reference to the fact that the interim leadership of the league in the region was unable to agree on who to send to vote on its behalf at the conference.
UPDATE: Having just seen the voting delegates stats for the ANC eThekwini regional conference, the contest is too close to call. While the Zandile Gumede faction was once invincible, the latest stats shows that it has been significantly weakened. Nyawose has gained some ground. pic.twitter.com/x49qblbIzR
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) April 9, 2022
The league was allocated nine voting delegates. However, insiders told the Daily News that the dispute arose when the names of those who were to vote on behalf of the league were changed because it was feared that they are pro- the Zandile Gumede slate.
Gumede, an RET proponent, is leading a slate that is up against one which is led by Thabani Nyawose, a man who has been firmly behind Cyril Ramaphosa since 2017 when the region was divided ahead of the Nasrec conference.
The Daily News understands that the issue of the youth league voting delegates has now been resolved and it was a matter of registering them so that they can take part in the conference.
WATCH: ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Sihle Zikalala is now opening the eThekwini regional conference. He said the fact that delegates came in groups shows how factionalism has taken root in the party. Someone from the crowd retorted: "You also belong yo a faction." @DailyNewsSA pic.twitter.com/aNDLBILFfr
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) April 9, 2022
An insider said the impasse was broken by splitting the delegates into two, with each faction taking half of the votes.
However, Nciki was adamant that they would not allow the adoption of the conference’s credentials if the delegation had not been formally registered.
“No way, that is not going to happen at all. The credentials will not be adopted if the youth league delegation is not here. We will vigorously challenge that,” Nciki told the Daily News on the sidelines of the conference.
Should Nciki’s threat become a reality, the voting process is likely to be delayed and start late on Saturday. In that case, the results will likely be known around 2am on Sunday.
The spokesperson of the ANC in KZN Nhlakanipho Ntombela confirmed that the youth league debacle has been resolved.
Daily News