Durban - Fresh from facing a politically damaging raid on her properties, former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede took to social media to indirectly indicate that she is forging forward with her campaign to reclaim her power in the region.
In a brief message posted on her Facebook page, Gumede quoted former iconic president Nelson Mandela when he said: “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb” and then put her own brief message across.
She told her followers there is no turning back.
“Giving up is not an option - forward to #Unity of the ANC In eThekwini. Hlangan’ ANC,” Gumede wrote.
Gumede is set to become the next regional chairperson of the ANC in the eThekwini region, one of the biggest and most influential in the ANC nationwide.
In the bruising race, Gumede is up against the faction of Thabani Nyawose and her former ally turned foe, Bheki Ntuli.
Earlier, her ardent supporters within the ANC said they will not rule out political interference as a factor in the "embarrassing" raids of her properties on Thursday morning.
Speaking on behalf of the supporters, Mzomuhle Dube, who was at Gumede's Inanda township home when the raid took place, said there was a possibility that the raids of two properties were meant to derail her campaign as she is a "frontrunner" in the upcoming ANC's regional elections.
Dube said what was more worrying was that the raids took place days before ANC branches in the eThekwini region start convening to nominate their preferred candidates ahead of the crucial elective conference which is expected to be held before the end of the year.