POLITICAL NEWS - With the ANC leadership race approaching its crescendo, the ANC KwaZulu-Natal leadership has warned those KZN party members opposed to its presidential candidate, former Health minister Zweli Mkhize, to prepare themselves to be “disappointed”.
The ANC electoral commission is currently consolidating nomination reports from party branches across the country, with the results scheduled to be made public in coming days.
ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said the results will confirm the correctness of the provincial executive committee (PEC) decision to back Mkhize.
The ANC branches in KZN have spoken, and their perspective on the leadership matter resonates with that of the organisation’s KZN PEC. Those ANC members who went against the PEC’s position would be disappointed
Apart from Mkhize, the slate endorsed by the KZN PEC include the names of ANC acting secretary general Paul Mashatile; former Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle, who is contesting for the secretary general position; and Limpopo Premier Stanley Mathabatha, who is vying for the national chairperson position.
Mkhize’s supporters opposed to Ramaphosa’s second-term bid
ANC members supporting Mkhize and the KZN PEC slate are opposed to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s second-term bid.
However, there was confusion on Sunday after Mashatile told The Sunday Times that he would not have any problem if Ramaphosa were re-elected party leader at the upcoming national conference. Mndebele said the PEC was not concerned by Mashatile’s statement.
As the KZN PEC we have taken a resolution and nothing will change that
So far Mkhize has been endorsed by the ANC KZN leadership and the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) nationally, while Ramaphosa has been endorsed by the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL), the ANC Veterans League and PECs including in Gauteng, Limpopo and Northern Cape.
Mndebele, who is part of the KZN PEC lobbying PECs in other provinces to back Mkhize, said it was the ANC branches who would decide the fate of the party’s candidates.
“As the ANC KZN leadership we are confident that the majority of the ANC branches in the country will endorse our perspective on the leadership matter,” he said.
In previous ANC national conferences, the party’s provincial structures announced the outcome of nomination processes in their respective provinces.
Changes in the ruling party’s regulations
However, with changes in the ruling party’s regulations, it is now only the party’s electoral commission, chaired by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, which can announce the outcome of the branch nomination processes.
According to Mashatile, who is also the ANC treasurer-general, more than 6 000 people are expected to attend the party’s national conference, scheduled to take place between December 16 and December 20. Out of the 6 000 people, Mashatile said, more than 4 000 would be ANC delegates.
With more than 800 branches, KZN — which is the biggest ANC province in the country — is expected to send the biggest delegation to the conference, which will take place at the Nasrec Expo in Johannesburg.
