Mayor James Nxumalo felt humiliated to hear that his name had been included without his consent on the ANC ballot paper as a contender to be chairman of the eThekwini region during the recent conference.
Nxumalo and his supporters had decided to boycott the conference, held at Moses Mabhida Stadium at the weekend.
They objected that the conference was organised by the ANC provincial executive committee, which they consider illegitimate.
Nxumalo’s chief supporter, councillor Sthenjwa Nyawose, said on Tuesday Nxumalo was unhappy when he heard that his name had been included, and he had been defeated by councillor Zandile Gumede.
Nxumalo received just one vote while 283 candidates voted for Gumede.
“He felt that those who had included his name did so to spite him, and he did not take kindly to that,” said Nyawose.
On Monday, Nxumalo issued a statement inviting the media to a press briefing at the Royal Hotel in Durban on Tuesday.
However, on Tuesday morning his office cancelled the briefing.
Nyawose said Nxumalo had wanted to clarify that he had not given consent for his name to be nominated.
“He was advised that he should delay the briefing so that he could get more advice on what he should tell the media,” he said.
Nyawose added that Nxumalo’s supporters would continue to challenge the conference, as well as the outcome of the provincial conference in which Sihle Zikalala defeated Premier Senzo Mchunu to become the party’s provincial chairman.
He said that although they were considering going to the Durban High Court, they did not want to do so at the expense of the ANC’s reputation.
“We are going to meet on Thursday and Friday to discuss the way forward be-cause we have to be very careful as we are still ANC members.”
He said Nxumalo was not bitter, because he still enjoyed support from ANC members.
“Just on Tuesday, he ad-dressed 400 ANC supporters during a Christmas party in his ward in Ntshanga.”
The Star