Interim leaders for KZN soon

ANC factions in KwaZulu-Natal expected an interim task team to be announced by secretarygeneral Ace Magashule on Monday, they said on Sunday.

The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) — its highest decision-making structure between conferences — resolved during its lekgotla to dissolve the provincial executive committees of KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State.

The courts had declared the outcomes of the elective conferences that had elected the leadership structures in both provinces null and void. The NEC has decided to dissolve these and replace them with interim ones that will oversee the day-to-day running of party business in the two provinces until fresh and credible elective conferences are held.

Mdumiseni Ntuli, spokesman for the dissolved provincial executive committee in KwaZulu-Natal, told Business Day on Sunday they were looking forward to the announcement of a new interim structure.

“We welcome the ANC NEC decision and we hope that the new structure would be able to prepare branches for the provincial elective conference, which we expect to take place before the end of April,” he said.

Sthembiso Mshengu, spokesman for the Senzo Mchunu-aligned faction, said they also expected the NEC to make a determination about those who would serve on the task team.

“This team must hit the ground running to prepare the movement for the [provincial] elective conference. We want people who will do away with the factions and promote unity in the ANC,” Mshengu said.

Prof Bheki Mngomezulu, an independent political analyst, said that only a credible provincial elective conference would bring about stability for the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal.

Francois Rodgers, leader of the opposition in the KwaZuluNatal legislature, urged any new ANC leadership to navigate factional interests carefully, saying division in the ANC in the province was having a major effect on service provision.