'Rebuild ANC truthfully' after nullifying of KZN elective conference

Supporters of former KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu were in a celebratory mood yesterday as they digested the high court ruling that the 2015 party provincial elective conference was “unlawful and invalid”.

Staunch supporters, many of whom had been removed by the then newly elected provincial executive committee (PEC) soon after it took office, took turns to address the crowd.

In between chanting, they raised placards in support of Mchunu and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa while denouncing Sihle Zikalala, who toppled Mchunu as chairperson and premier of the province at the ANC’s 2015 elective conference.

The Lower South Coast region's secretary, Mzwandile Mkhwanazi, accused the now-nullified provincial leadership of deepening factions by persecuting those who supported Mchunu in the lead-up to the elective conference. 

“The comrades who supported comrade Senzo today are at home, they are unemployed. They were chased out by fellow comrades as if they belonged to the IFP,” he said.

He was referring to former eThekwini Municipality executive committee member Nigel Gumede, former Durban mayor James Nxumalo, former agriculture MEC Cyril Xaba and former Msunduzi Municipality mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo.

“We have never seen such factionalism. In this province people were being fired in two-page reports. It did not matter whether the contents were factual or not,” Mkhwanazi said.

He said regions that were known to support Mchunu in his bid to remain chairperson also suffered.

“Immediately after the provincial conference, they visited us in the Lower South Coast region and asked for reasons why they should not disband us,” Mkhwanazi said, referring to the pro-Mchunu and Ramaphosa region, which recently had its powers stripped by the PEC.

The region has since appealed this decision at the ANC national executive committee (NEC). But the so-called rebels told supporters that the verdict was an opportunity for the party’s ambitions to restore unity.

Jomo Sibiya, a Mchunu supporter from the Nkosi Bambatha region, said the outcome was an opportunity to save the organisation and “teach them what the ANC is”.

“We believe that this is a moment where we should all unite, sit down and reflect on things we believe have gone wrong and what we need to correct going forward,” Sibiya said.

He said the Mchunu supporters were willing to engage with the nullified provincial leadership to tackle factionalism and unify the ANC.

“There are comrades who were wronged. They should be afforded an apology, because a lot has gone wrong in this province.

"The case was never about ourselves, it was about the ANC,” Sibiya said.

When leaving the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Zikalala’s allies, including ANC provincial spokesperson Mdumiseni Ntuli and eThekwini regional secretary Bheki Ntuli, were booed by Mchunu’s supporters. 

The rebels had previously been criticised for “taking organisational matters to the court”.

Sibusiso Mhlongo, deputy secretary of the Abaqulusi region, also took a swipe at the nullified provincial leadership. 

“What is interesting is that they said the courts should not be dragged into organisational matters." 

He told supporters to go back to their branches and “rebuild the ANC truthfully”.