Plan to unite ANC factions
FORMER premier Senzo Mchunu announced yesterday that a 15-member delegation is expected to meet the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC) in a bid to resolve intra-party tensions in the province.
Mchunu was speaking in Durban after more than a thousand ANC members from 300 branches across the province gathered at a summit to analyse last week’s Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling which had declared the 2015 provincial conference “unlawful”.
The Zikalala faction yesterday welcomed the attempts to bring the warring camps together, saying such moves should be “applauded”.
It was the first time yesterday that Mchunu had appeared on a public platform with aggrieved party members who took the matter to court.
Also attending the summit, described as a show of force by the Mchunu camp, were MEC for Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, who has been heavily criticised for the state of health care in the province, and former MEC for Economic Development and Tourism Mike Mabuyakhulu, who lost his senior provincial position to Sihle Zikalala after the 2015 conference.
Vryheid councillor Lawrence Dube, who was one of the four applicants who approached the courts to intervene after the provincial conference, told a press conference after the summit that should the NEC decide that a new provincial conference was necessary, this was likely to take place only next year.
The court ruling by Judge Jerome Mnguni came after complaints by a faction supporting ousted chairperson and former premier Senzo Mchunu‚ who lost to Zikalala in a bitter internal battle.
At the press conference, Mchunu said the current political climate within the ANC in the province was not conducive for a credible provincial conference. “That would undermine the conference credibility at our own detriment, it could be worse than where we are right now if we just run,” he said.
Asked if he would contest for the position of provincial chair at a new conference should there be a re-run, Mchunu refused to answer.
Instead, he said the ANC must win in the next conference, not an individual or grouping.
“We need stability, and we need to work for stability before a conference, because we can re-run and find that we are sinking,” Mchunu said.
He said he decided to attend yesterday’s summit at the behest of the applicants, who wanted him to thoroughly brief fellow members on the outcomes and implications of the case.
With regards to the 15-member delegation that plans to meet the nullified PEC, Mchunu said the aim was to reach out to comrades.
Mchunu said although the NEC was well placed to decide on the way forward following the outcome of the court case, KZN leaders “should not just fold their arms”.
“We in the ANC in KZN need to begin to find one another, there is nothing worse that we can do to the ANC in this province that we have not already done,” said Mchunu.
He said it was time to reflect “peacefully and comradely” to ensure that tensions do not get worse.
“It doesn’t mean because you had a stint in power that the organisation is yours.
“Let us humble ourselves, let’s talk and guard against us losing in 2019 (while we are at) the altar of bickering,” Mchunu added.
He also advised against what he called “henchman politics” where those who win power purge members who supported the loser.
KZN ANC secretary-general Super Zuma said they had not been approached with the offer.
“We will welcome this gesture with open arms, we all belong to one organisation and we will engage with them openly for unity,” Zuma said.
Political analyst Bheki Mngomezulu said this was the right time for a political solution.
“The fact that Mchunu is prepared to send a delegation to Zikalala’s camp should be applauded, because that would mean they can find each other and make the court route irrelevant,” he said.
For this to work, Mngomezulu said there would have to be compromises from both sides.
He said the worst case scenario would be if Zikalala’s side went ahead with the appeal.