Accept court verdict, says ANC in KZN
Call for unity and healing
AS WARRING ANC factions in KwaZuluNatal wait on a Pietermaritzburg High Court judgment to determine the legitimacy of the provincial executive committee, party provincial leaders have called on their supporters to accept the court’s verdict and work on uniting the party.
Several ANC leaders, including provincial chairman Sihle Zikalala, whose election as party leader was hotly disputed at the provincial conference in 2015, have called on party members to forge unity and to heal the wounded party ahead of the all-important national conference in December and the 2019 general elections.
Party provincial elder Meshack Radebe, the provincial legislature’s deputy Speaker, expressed optimism.
Supporters of former provincial chairman Senzo Mchunu had lodged the case against Zikalala’s provincial executive because, they alleged, irregularities had amounted to a rigged conference.
Radebe said if the court verdict was not accepted by whoever lost, peace and stability in the province would be further compromised.
“There is no side that should be seen as a loser. I hope that after all this process we will have peace and unity in the ANC.”
If the ANC had, at the dawn of democracy, formed a government of national unity with “oppressors”, nothing should stop the party from forging unity within itself.
“I believe after this we must sit down to focus on the 2019 elections. We need to build a united block.” Radebe described it as “unfortunate when ANC members are taking each other to court”.
“But what can you do if somebody is unhappy with the process? He has all the right to take the matter to court.
“If there was anything wrong with the process, the court will tell us, and if there was nothing wrong, the court will tell us. I will personally accept whatever verdict.”
At Freedom Square in front of the high court in Pietermaritzburg, divisions between ANC factions were visible as they sang provocative songs against each other. Addressing his supporters, Zikalala even accused his detractors of being traitors by hiring a “counter-revolution pro-EFF” advocate, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, to represent them.
Addressing supporters after Judge Sharmaine Balton had reserved judgment, Zikalala called on his supporters not to be vindictive towards Mchunu’s supporters.
“We should sit down with the comrades who took the ANC to court and tell them that issues of the ANC should in future be discussed and finalised within the ANC.
“We are not concerned about the judgment. We are concerned about unity.
“Irrespective of what is in the judgment, let us work with the comrades, unite with them and build a strong ANC between now and the national conference,” he said.
Spokesperson for the complainants, Sthembiso Mshengu, said they wanted a rerun of the conference so that all qualifying party members “can fairly participate”.
“Irrespective of the verdict, we all remain members of the ANC, so unity has to be there.
“We have a responsibility as members of the ANC to make sure that those in the leadership treat everyone equally so that, irrespective of the outcome of the organisational processes, if the playing field is level and there is justice, the end results will always be embraced by everyone.”
Political analyst Imraan Buccus said an expectation of unity would be unrealistic unless the issues of concern raised in court were addressed. “The reality is that there is a significant part of the ANC in KZN that has been demobilised, and the thinking of unity without concretely addressing their grievances raised in court will prove to be futile.”
Judge Balton and her colleagues, Piet Koen and Mahendra Chetty, will determine whether the preparations for the conference were rigged, with gatekeepers at branch levels preventing certain members from participating in electing delegates.
The judges will also have to determine whether fake delegates were allowed, and whether the complainants had done enough to raise their grievances about the irregularities with party leaders.