Johannesburg- Members of the Radical Economic Transformation (RET) in KwaZulu-Natal are divided on who should lead the ANC’s eThekwini, the influential and biggest region in the country in terms of membership.
Senior party insiders who are part of RET, a faction aligned to former head of state Jacob Zuma, told Sunday World that at the heart of the debate was whether “it was a wise move” to push regional political heavyweight Zandile Gumede as chairperson.
“The idea that we are selling to comrades is that maybe comrade Zandile should be allowed time to deal with her legal matters.
Once she is acquitted, she can then be our candidate for key positions in the provincial conference.
“Our argument is that there are few comrades who subscribe to the radical economic transformation agenda that can be put forward,” said the insider, who didn’t want to be named for fear of victimisation. He added that the assertion that Duduzane Zuma was being considered for the position was premature and had not received backing from the faction.
“This is a false narrative because comrades agree that while Duduzane might be one for the future, he is not politically mature and doesn’t have what it takes to be a regional chairperson for now.
“Two names have stood out in our engagements, it is that of current eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and councillor Nkosenhle Madlala,” he said.
What could stand in the way for Kaunda is that he serves in the party’s provincial executive committee and the party’s constitution prohibits any member holding a position in a higher structure to avail himself for a position in a lower structure.
Gumede has a dark legal cloud hanging over her head relating to the Durban solid waste multimillion-rand tender that was riddled with corruption during her tenure as mayor of eThekwini metro.
While other regions in the province have convened their elective conferences, eThekwini’s long-awaited conference has not yet been held, mainly because of the outstanding branches, which should convene its meetings. EThekwini, with 111 branches, needs at least 78 branches to reach a threshold to give the green light to the elective conference.
Nkosentsha Shezi, a staunch Zuma supporter and RET spokesperson, said nothing has been finalised. “There is always a battle of ideas.
We want somebody who is loyal to the cause of the radical economic transformation. Nothing is cast in stone until a conference is convened. Comrades will evaluate and engage in the battle of ideas.
But for now, Mam’Zandile Gumede is the candidate that the RET forces are putting forward, unless something drastically changes,” said Shezi.
ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said about 12 branches were outstanding and would sit soon.
“The directive from the party is that by the end of January, all regions should have convened the elective conferences,” he said.
As a key region, the eThekwini conference will provide a yardstick of whether current president Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to be elected for a second term at the party’s national elective conference scheduled for later this year.
EThekwini metro speaker and Ramaphosa’s man, Thabani Nyawose, has been put forward to challenge Gumede or anyone that the RET forces back for the top position.
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