ANC urges members to shun Zuma’s example
● The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, denouncing former president Jacob Zuma as “counter-revolutionary ”, has launched a drive to prevent members from following his lead in shunning the party and voting next year for the newly formed Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party.
Party leaders are touring the province to engage ANC branches and alliance partners on the importance of remaining loyal. Party provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo was in the Harry Gwala region on Wednesday, while provincial chair Siboniso Duma addressed party structures in the Lower South Coast region on Thursday.
Mafika Mndebele, KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson for the ANC, said the intention is to discuss with structures what is happening with regards to the “so-called MK ”.
Zuma ’ s endorsement of the new party last Saturday came as the ANC haemorrhages support across the country and faces the prospect of losing power in KwaZulu-Natal in the elections next year. Polling also indicates it will lose its absolute majority at national level.
Zuma ’ s repudiation of the ANC as led by President Cyril Ramaphosa is a major blow for the party in KwaZulu-Natal, which had been hoping the former president would campaign on its behalf ahead of the elections.
“We want all our members to close ranks,”
Mndebele said.
Members should “always understand that should there be any challenges in the ANC, the true culture of the ANC is that those challenges can only be raised and resolved internally, not through any other form”, he said.
“Any call for people to either boycott the ANC or vote for any other party is counter-revolutionary and that call must be rejected.”
Zuma ’ s influence seems to be on the wane inside the party as his announcement last weekend has drawn no public support from any other prominent leader.
Former Zuma loyalists in the province told the Sunday Times that they were neither “consulted in the formation of MK nor are interested in voting for or supporting MK in any capacity”.
The provincial executive, which in the past has kowtowed to Zuma, appears to have now washed its hands of him.
Mndebele said Zuma’s decision was regrettable but there were no plans to engage with him.
“We continue to respect president Zuma — but no, no, no, we are not going to see him, the ANC leadership for now is quite busy strengthening its own structures. [For] the ANC in the province to lose any member is nothing to rejoice over; worse [when it is] a member of the influence of president Jacob Zuma.
“What is important is after individuals have made their decisions, wewho remain in the ANC must continue to be seized with our responsibility to lead, we must lead even when conditions are bad,” said Mndebele.
He said Zuma had “taken his own decision after several engagements, and numerous instances of support from the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal in particular. ”
“I don’t think there is anything new we can say to the former president — the only thing we can do now is to mobilise our structures for ANC victory, and we are still quite confident of ANC victory.”