Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - The nomination of former president Jacob Zuma to contest incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa at the governing party’s national election conference in December has caused a frenzy within the ANC.
Zuma was nominated during a divided branch general meeting held by members of the Esther Mazibuko region in Sedibeng, Evaton West, on Sunday.
His nomination started off on rocky ground following a letter from the ANC’s national executive on Saturday, warning that the meeting’s outcomes would be impacted by the ongoing chaos involving unpaid Luthuli House workers who have downed tools in protest.
Some branch members opted to abstain, but leaders of the branch felt they were well within their rights to hold the general meeting since more than 50 members were willing to participate.
The leaders told the Pretoria News they met all the requirements that were finalised during a pre-seating.
The requirements included minutes and an attendance register of the branch executive committee, together with a meeting invitation to members of the branch and their attendance register, which the Pretoria News has seen.
The leaders argued that there was enough leadership representation, including permanent deployees from the branch, zone and region.
“Yes, it's true that we received a letter from Luthuli House telling us about the situation with the workers, but we resolved that we should go ahead with our nomination of the national leaders because we had already planned the general meeting and did everything needed to convene.
“As disciplined members of the ANC, we followed the spirit and letter of the revised guidelines of the NEC, which were amended and adopted at a special meeting held on two dates – August 23 and September 9,” said a branch leader who requested not to be named until they have met the national leadership.
The upcoming meeting with the national leadership emanated from phone calls from Luthuli House, asking to meet the branch leaders before they publicly announce their nomination of “Msholozi”.
“We are not happy with this meeting because it has been set for Thursday afternoon. We feel the matter is too urgent to place the meeting towards the weekend. We are adamant Msholozi is qualified enough to lead the ANC once more and restore public trust in the organisation,” said another leader.
Branch representatives who spoke to the newspaper added that they would answer questions on how they will deal with the step-aside rule once they have met the national executive.
“There is so much we would like to state publicly but that can be used against us because some anti-black development factions are afraid that Msholozi stands a chance to reclaim the top leadership of the ANC,” the branch leader said.
Zuma faces charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering emanating from the controversial arms deal dating back to the 1990s.
According to the ANC’s current policy position, those facing criminal charges are barred from contesting leadership positions or accepting nominations from branches.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa’s rival for 2017 ANC presidency, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has sparked a national political debate following her comments in an exclusive interview with the SABC at the weekend, where she criticised the step-aside rule.
Dlamini Zuma said the rule was the only resolution implemented from many others taken at the Nasrec conference, where she narrowly lost to Ramaphosa. She said there were comrades who were arrested and charged, only to be investigated afterwards.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe did not respond to questions sent to him on the Zuma nomination. JG Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi was not available to confirm if the former president would accept the Sedibeng nomination or decline it.
Pretoria News