Threats and court action preceded the much-anticipated eThekwini elective conference which also led to the unprecedented delays with the provincial leadership working overtime to convince the aggrieved delegates to attend the sitting.
On Saturday morning, uncertainty gripped the conference organisers after a more than three hours delay with no explanation given. It later emerged that eThekwini metro ward 1 wanted to interdict the conference because of an alleged manipulation of delegates. The ward is predominantly a rural area under KwaXimba which borders a small town of Cato Ridge in the middle of Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Another ward 91 in Hammarsdale township also supported ward 1 again claiming manipulation. Both the branches are the biggest voting bloc in eThekwini region.
But eThekwini region convener Kwazi Mshengu said the impasse had been resolved.
“Even if they would have approached the court, they wouldn’t have a legal leg to stand on. We did everything accordingly,” said Mshengu.
Ward 1 which is believed is the biggest ANC branch in the country with more than 4000 members has always been the kingmaker when it comes to the politics of the region and that of the province all the way to national elections. On the other hand, ward 91 has about 1200 branches, the second biggest in eThekwini.
Ward 1 was also significant in former president Jacob Zuma’s victory in the 2007 watershed Polokwane elective conference. During the 2017 Nasrec conference, it was the same branch that carried the hopes of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
