MK warned to stop war talk

ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize has disciplined a militant leader of the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association who last night called on young black people to avail themselves for military training as “white people are busy training in farms”.

Themba Mavundla, KwaZulu-Natal chairperson of the MKMVA, had told delegates at the ANC KZN provincial general council at the University of Zululand, Empangeni, that they should be ready to defend the country from military-trained white people.

He had said MKMVA members and President Jacob Zuma had military skills to share with young people. However, Mkhize called Mavundla to order, saying that such statements would send the wrong message about the party.

Mavundla warned that “Boers are training in farms”.

“Young people, Boers are reorganising... Come closer to us so that we can provide you with little military skills so that you can defend yourself.

“We are ready as the MKMVA in KwaZulu-Natal. Before President Jacob Zuma falls, we must have done this and pass over this art (of war) to the youth for the future of this congress movement. We need this otherwise this country will be taken,” he said to applause.

Mkhize called on young people to join legal structures such as the SANDF and SAPS. He was standing in for Zuma, who arrived late after being delayed in Swaziland.

“I am mentioning this because I don’t want us to have a situation later that becomes a challenge,” he said.

Mkhize also called for unity within the party, saying the ANC should defend itself against attacks from ever-growing opposition forces, some of which had emerged within the party and the alliance.

He said if the ANC was divided in lower structures, it would lead to divisions at the national leadership level.

“We don’t own this ANC, the ANC belongs to the people of South Africa, our children and their generations.

“Our responsibility is to make sure that we leave this ANC stronger so that those children who are the custodians of it must find this ANC stronger,” he said.

Mkhize said divisions were much stronger in KwaZulu-Natal and were linked to camps created at the 2015 party provincial conference, which elected Sihle Zikalala as provincial chairperson.

Supporters of Senzo Mchunu, who was defeated, were left aggrieved, and challenged the outcome in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. The case is still pending.

“The divisions that are persisting in the province are a challenge. We have discussed it as the NEC, we are seeking means to assist.

“The divisions in KwaZulu-Natal will have a similar impact at the national level,” said Mkhize.

KZN ANC chairperson Sihle Zikalala said the national policy conference, to be held in Johannesburg at the end of the month, must pass a resolution on when the SACP and Cosatu could engage in the internal affairs of the ANC, regarding who would succeed Zuma.

He said threats by the SACP that it would contest the 2019 elections if its candidate for the December conference did not win were wrong.