ANC leaders split on how to handle KZN and North West

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has admitted there were elements of factional battles in KZN and North West.

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has admitted there were elements of factional battles in KZN and North West.

Published Apr 22, 2018

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DURBAN - THE ANC’s fragile unity is being tested once again after claims surfaced that officials in the party’s “Top Six” are divided about how to handle issues in KwaZulu-Natal and the North West.

This is as the ANC provincial conference was postponed indefinitely and pressure mounted on Premier of the North West, Supra Mahumapelo to step down over corruption allegations raised against him.

Both Sihle Zikalala and Mahumapelo were staunch backers of Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma before the December conference. She lost to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

A national executive committee member who spoke on condition of anonymity said those who supported Dlamini Zuma were being targeted with the intention of removing them from their positions.

Zikalala was the ANC provincial chairperson until January. That’s when the NEC suspended the province’s leadership after the Pietermaritzburg High Court found that the November 2015 elective conference was null and void.

Zikalala beat Senzo Mchunu in the race for KwaZulu-Natal’s top spot. An interim structure was subsequently set up.

Their mandate was to host a provincial election by the end of April but the NEC announced that the conference had been postponed indefinitely. Enraged by this decision, hundreds of ANC supporters, who are believed to be aligned to Zikalala, marched to the ANC’s provincial office in Durban on Friday and demanded a date.

Another NEC member who did not want to be named said the Top Six was divided and this filtered down to the branches.

“I cannot lie and say we are united. The reality is that the leadership is divided and pushed for some decisions along factional lines,” said the NEC member.

While ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said the party was united, he conceded that there were elements of factional battles in the province and North West.

Magashule said the ANC was not aware some NEC members were part of the ploy to delay the provincial elective conference.

Political analyst, Professor Bheki Mngomezulu of the University of Western Cape said the ANC leadership was failing to deal with the remnants of the December conference.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE

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