Durban - The once biggest and influential ANC ward in the entire county, ward 1 (known as KwaXimba branch) in the eThekwini region has lost its prestigious status.
In 2017 the branch had more than 4 000 members and it brought the largest voting delegation to the Nasrec conference, where it was backing the slate of Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
The intimidating strength of the branch prompted one prominent Dlamini Zuma backer, Thami Ngubane, the former mayor of Umvoti (Greytown) to boast to the media on the sidelines of the KwaZulu-Natal ANC provincial general council which was held in Durban in July 2017, that ward 1 alone would bring delegates that would counter half of the Northern Cape province, which was backing Cyril Ramaphosa.
Five years later the branch, which recently hosted and endorsed Dr Zweli Mkhize as he guns for the position of ANC's deputy president, has been decimated and left with 891 members, which is not even half of the membership it commanded at the height of its power.
It has also been disqualified and may not be able to take part in the crucial upcoming eThekwini regional and the KZN provincial conference, billed for July this year.
NEWS: Ward 1 in eThekwini, the once biggest ANC ward in SA has lost the status. In 2017 the branch had over 4000 members. 5 years later it has been decimated & left with 891 members. It has also been disqualified and may not take part in the regional and provincial conferences.
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) March 21, 2022
Prominent members of this branch include Mdumiseni Ntuli, the ANC’s provincial secretary, Bheki Ntuli, the former eThekwini regional secretary who is now a member of the regional task team, and Thembo Ntuli, who is gunning for the position of deputy regional chairperson under the slate of Zandile Gumede and Musa Nciki.
However, if the branch is eventually disqualified and not able to take part in conferences, the Ntuli brothers will take part in these conferences using their various positions. Thembo will participate as a guest since he is the whip of the council in the ANC-run eThekwini metro.
The crumbling of this branch is contained in a preliminary report which was compiled by Nomvula Mokonyane, a member of the ANC national executive committee (NEC) and head of organising. The report was compiled on Tuesday, March 15, and it was after auditing the entire eThekwini region before it could convene its elective conference.
According to Mokonyane’s report, the branch was disqualified because it failed to meet the required quorum. With its current membership, the branch needed 446 members to attend its BGM (branch general meeting) which was held on March 13. During the meeting, 479 members showed up, but the number failed to meet the threshold when 65 members were disqualified because they were “not in good standing”.
A senior member of the ANC said the decline in membership was not only prevalent in the eThekwini region but throughout the country because members were not renewing their membership.
“People don't like coming to ANC meetings, which often start late and drag until the wee hours of the day, it turns them off and hence some end up not renewing their membership… I think we need to change the way we do things if we want to bring back our members," said the member.
The spokesperson for the ANC in KZN, Nhlakanipho Ntombela, said the decline could be attributed to three issues: the limitations that had been brought by the new online system to register members, which he said “has limitations”, gatekeeping, and frustrations.
“That is why people are turning their backs against us. If you look at the results of the local government elections, frustrated people did not go out to vote for the ANC because they are frustrated,” Ntombela said.
Political Bureau