ANC KZN formally back Dlamini Zuma to lead the party

THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, the biggest province of the governing party by numbers, has officially endorsed former African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to be the next party president.

Addressing eThekwini’s ANC regional general council (RGC) in Durban yesterday, Nontembeko Boyce, a member of the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC), threw her weight behind Dlamini Zuma.

KwaZulu-Natal is the first province to give Dlamini Zuma the nod.

This was after the Northern Cape backed Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed President Jacob Zuma in December.

The ANC KZN’s regional general council was held to finalise policy issues they wanted supported at the party’s provincial general council being held this weekend at the University of Zululand.

As custodians of the ANC, branches would be visited by the PEC to request “comrade Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to be released to be the president”, said Boyce.

She said Dlamini Zuma had the capacity of rising to the character of longest serving ANC president, Oliver Tambo.

“We said we want the type of leadership that is going to turn around the situation in the movement.

“We want a leadership that is going to work effectively to change the challenges of the ANC to be the success stories of the ANC,” she said.

The ANC Women’s League, Youth League, and Umkhonto We Sizwe Military Veterans Association have also thrown their weight behind Dlamini Zuma.

ANC eThekwini regional chairwoman Zandile Gumede said the region had not made up its mind about other people to serve in the top six.

“We can still be confused about other leaders, but with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, we make no mistake,” said Gumede.

In what was seen as a veiled swipe at Dlamini Zuma’s contender, Ramaphosa, Gumede said: “You should not vote for the rich to lead our movement because even the Bible said they will never see the kingdom of heaven.”

She said the matter had been left unimplemented after it had been “endorsed by previous policy conferences”.

Picture: PHANDO JIKELO LOCKING HORNS: President Jacob Zuma faced a grilling from opposition parties in Parliament when he directly answered questions by MPs yesterday.