DURBAN - INCONSISTENCIES in the application of the ANC’s step-aside policy means that former Durban mayor Zandile Gumede can still contest the position of chairperson when the ANC eThekwini region holds its elective conference this weekend.
This is the view of University of KwaZulu-Natal political analyst Siyabonga Ntombela as the ANC prepares for the conference in its biggest region, eThekwini. The conference pits Gumede, who is regarded as former president Jacob Zuma’s backer, against eThekwini council speaker Thabani Nyawose, who is seen to be siding with current president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ntombela said Nyawose had a good chance of winning at the conference. “He is the kind of leader that the ANC needs to regain public confidence in that he does not have anything that taints him. On that score alone he stands a good chance to emerge victorious.”
Gumede appeared briefly at the Durban High Court on fraud and corruption charges last week and the case was adjourned to July 18. The appearance became a rallying point for her supporters and was used for campaigning.
Ntombela said while Nyawose had credentials that gave him appeal, the Gumede faction would be encouraged by the developments in Mpumalanga where murder accused Mandla Msibi was elected as provincial treasurer over the past weekend. “How that was allowed to happen, to have an individual facing serious charges, is quite strange and it will give the Gumede faction ammunition that the step-aside policy is applied selectively,” said Ntombela.
Party secretary-general Ace Magashule was suspended through the same policy, but his backers argued it had been used by the Ramaphosa faction to purge opponents in the party.
Ntombela said the Gumede faction could advance the same argument.
He also expressed doubt about the much-talked-about renewal of the ANC. “The ANC is just not capable of self-correcting, not under the current circumstances.”
Ntombela added that he was not shocked that the ANC Youth League and the ANC Women’s League in the region had sided with opposing camps. “When you look at the Nyawose slate, it is clear that it is mostly people who have been in the ranks of the youth league and therefore it comes as no surprise that they have endorsed him. The women’s league appears to have endorsed Gumede on the basis that she is a woman,” he said.
According to Ntombela, the conference would be important for Ramaphosa as a win for his faction could be a building block for his campaign for re-election.
ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela confirmed that the conference would be held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, starting on Friday and concluding on Sunday.
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