All eyes are now on eThekwini which failed to convene on Monday because branches could not meet the 70% threshold required for a conference to be held.
THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is pushing to hold all its outstanding regional conferences in January and early February with six of the province’s 11 regions yet to convene their conferences.
The regions that have convened their conferences and elected new leadership structures include the Far North (Mtubatuba), Emalahleni (Newcastle), Josiah Gumede (Uthukela), and most recently General Gizenga Mpanza (KwaDukuza, Stanger) and Moses Mabhida (Richmond and Pietermaritzburg) which were held over the weekend.
“We had five conferences convened now, we are now left with six that have to take place in January and February,” said ANC provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela.
The regions that are yet to convene their regional conferences include the Lower South Coast (Port Shepstone), Inkosi Bhambatha (Umzinyathi), Harry Gwala (KZN Midlands), Mzala Nxumalo (Zululand) Musa Dladla region (Empangeni) and eThekwini.
The provincial conference is expected to take place later in the coming year as the term of the Sihle Zikalala led provincial executive committee ends in July.
Over its two day conference at the weekend, delegates at the Moses Mabhida Region’s conference, the second biggest region of the ANC in the province after eThekwini, elected Msunduzi Municipality mayor Mzimkhulu Thebola as the new regional chairperson.
Other newly elected leaders in the region included Richmond mayor Samora Ndlovu, who was elected secretary-general, deputy chairperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela, and Mathobane Hlabisa as the treasurer-general.
The biggest focus will now be on eThekwini, the biggest region of the ANC in the province and the country, which postponed its conference to next year after it was unable to convene on Monday due to branches failing to meet the 70% threshold required by the party constitution for the conference to sit.
The party needed at least 78 out of its 111 branches to reach the threshold and convene the much awaited conference which is set to pit former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede against newly elected eThekwini Municipality speaker Thabani Nyawose for the chairperson’s position.
Earlier this year, the party in the province said that the convening of the regional conferences was an important step for the renewal and rebuilding of the party, and strengthening the ANC as the principal leader of the National Democratic Revolution.
“The rebuilding of the ANC structures is fundamentally important and in the best interest of our people because the ANC is by far the dominant political force in our province. A strong and united African National Congress is important for the stability of our province and acceleration of the project of social transformation,” the ANC in KZN said.
Political Bureau