‘I don’t sing about things, I act’ – NDZ exclusive
FORMER African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has moved to allay fears among party faithful that her election to the ANC presidency will lead to the party losing the elections in 2019.
In an exclusive interview with Independent Media, the ANC presidential hopeful was confident the organisation will do well at the crucial polls under her leadership.
Dlamini Zuma slammed those who linked her campaign to her former husband, President Jacob Zuma, repeating that they were “dishonest and disingenuous”.
“I believe the ANC will actually win (the elections) even better, because it will be a change and not the continuation of what is there now,” she said.
Dlamini Zuma stressed that South Africans knew her track record in government, and this would boost the ANC’s fortunes under her stewardship.
“I’m a cadre who has a vast experience in government and the country can say when I’m in government this is what I have done. South Africans will know that I’m very decisive. I don’t sing about things, I act,” she said.
Dlamini Zuma’s comments came as factions in the governing party entered the final push in the battle for the soul of the ANC.
At the weekend, Dlamini Zuma received the nod to ascend to the party highest office from the ANC’s second biggest province, Mpumalanga, although many branches preferred a candidate, “Unity”, who will unite the party.
North West and the Free State have also thrown their weight behind her, while Western Cape, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape prefer Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
As concerns remained that the conference might collapse, Dlamini Zuma said they had pledged as candidates to ensure the meeting would be a success and its outcomes would be accepted. “Contestations are an exercise of democracy as long as we under- stand that we are not contesting with enemies; we are contesting with cadres of the organisation, comrades. If we are dealing with comrades, if any of the comrades win, I will be there behind them, supporting them, and I expect the same. That is why I don’t expect a split occasioned by the conference, but I cannot put my head on the block,” she said.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that some in Cosatu and the SACP are pushing the two working-class formations to club together and contest elections if Dlamini Zuma wins the ANC’s presidency.
Dlamini Zuma said it would be a tragedy if the SACP chose to go it alone. “It will not help the SACP, it will subtract from the alliance. There will always be tensions in the alliance, but it should be a healthy tension,” she said.
Dlamini Zuma said her being elected ANC leader would not be the reason behind the SACP’s participation in elections, as the party had already contested the Metsimaholo, Free State municipal by-election last week.
“It will not be because of me, because I’m nowhere, I’m a backbencher in Parliament, but they are contesting already,” she said.
Dlamini Zuma defended herself against her perceived silence on state capture. “Corruption, I don’t think it’s enough to sing about it, I believe that you must deal with it. Maybe I don’t sing enough about it,” she said.
Dlamini Zuma said her priority would be fine-tuning ANC policies for implementation, mainly on education, restructuring of the economy and land reform. She said it was wrong to air concerns outside of the party.
“There is no point of going outside to the world and saying the ANC is dying. What do you want the world to do about that? You must fix what you think is wrong,” she said.
By late yesterday, Ramaphosa was leading the race in terms of nominations, with 1 278 compared to Dlamini Zuma’s 772. But numbers were set to change, as KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC’s biggest province, and Limpopo hold their provincial general councils today.
KZN was expected to support Dlamini Zuma and Limpopo to back Ramaphosa.
AN ANC branch of former AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has been excluded from participating at the KwaZulu-Natal party’s provincial general council (PGC) to be attended by more than 800 delegates today and tomorrow.
ANC provincial spokesperson Mdumiseni Ntuli informed members of the Gedleyihlekisa Branch, which includes Durban CBD and surrounding suburbs, that they would also not be represented at the ANC national conference to take place in Joburg between December 16 and 20.
The PGC is the final preparation for the national conference.
It is only attended by people who have been selected as delegates to the national event in order to elect the new party leadership.
The council is expected to pronounce a slate that has Dlamini Zuma as the preferred ANC president at the national conference after she was nominated by most branches in the province.
Ntuli said yesterday that the branch at Ward 32, Durban, which holds Dlamini Zuma’s ANC membership, had repeatedly failed to hold its branch general meeting to select delegates to the provincial and national events.
“They are not going to the conference as they did not convene the BGM,” said Ntuli.
Ntuli said the branch had been experiencing “lots of infighting” as they disagreed over the database, which is the list of eligible ANC members in the branch to attend the BGM.
“So the convening of the BGM would exclude others, and that would make life difficult for the members of the ANC.
“So they are not going to the national conference,” he said.
Troubles at the branch date back to the preparations for last year’s local government elections, with some ANC branch members who support Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa alleging that the current councillor, Mpumelelo Zuma, was imposed on the ward.
As disagreements continued beyond the elections, the eThekwini region disbanded the branch, which later appealed against the decision.
Branch chairperson Mfundo Dobe said he was disappointed by the decision to exclude his branch from the PGC and national conference.
“We wanted to be part of policy discussions that will take our party and country forward.
“But we are not surprised because through the disruption in our branch we were also excluded from the policy conference.
“This is done to us because we want Ramaphosa to be the next president,” he said.
By yesterday afternoon, hundreds of delegates from the province’s 700 branches converged at the Durban City Hall to register for the PGC, which will place at the Olive Convention Centre.
Ntuli said the delegates had also registered to attend the national conference.
He added that provincial chairman Sihle Zikalala would open the PGC by delivering the party’s political overview, and an NEC member who had yet to be announced would make an input.
“The election committee would then present a consolidated vote,” he said.
He added that the delegates would then hold policy discussions, including deliberating on the radical economic policy proposal.
“Land and free will be discussed.
“We are also going to discuss the issue of two general secretaries, one dealing with monitoring and evaluation and the other dealing with organisation building,” said Ntuli.