The ANC has lined up a group of heavyweights to beef up its election machinery in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where it is facing threats of losing power to former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
The decision was taken during a virtual meeting held on Tuesday, attended by national executive committee deployees to the province.
Among the big guns set to lead the campaign trail are former ANC treasurer general Zweli Mkhize (also a former premier), former transport minister Sbu Ndebele (also a former premier), and former premier Willies Mchunu.
Former deputy chairperson of the ANC in the province, Mike Mabuyakhulu, leads the election team.
The high-profile intervention comes as some in the ANC national executive committee questioned whether the provincial executive committee, led by economic development MEC Siboniso Duma, is up to the task after losing a string of recent by-elections to the IFP.
KwaZulu-Natal is second after Gauteng in population size, accounting for 12.4-million of the country’s total 62-million population, according to 2022 Census statistics, while Gauteng stands at 15-million.
Thus, a strong performance by the ANC in these two provinces would contribute immensely to the party’s national vote tally, where, for the first time since democracy, the ANC faces a real threat of losing control of the central government.
A provincial ANC insider said: “We are going to beef up that team. All those heavyweights have been roped in. Already, they are very involved in the campaign to boost and support the PEC.”
The person said the ANC would be cautious about how it communicated the intervention to the public to avoid perceptions that the move was a vote of no confidence in the provincial executive committee.
A source at Luthuli House close to the process said while the intervention team’s role would be advisory, they would also target key constituencies.
“You have Willies Mchunu, who is highly respected among traditional leaders, and Ndebele, who is respected among older people in KZN.”
Sunday World learned that in assessing its electoral prospects, the governing party is also secretly counting on a possible implosion withinZuma’s MK among the scenarios that would give the ANC a better chance of retaining KZN.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said he did not understand what the fuss was about because the party had long proclaimed that it would use all available manpower to come and help the election campaign.
“We have long announced that we will rope in different senior leaders, particularly those who reside in the province, to come and boost the campaign,” Mndebele said.
He said the initiative was warmly welcomed, and the identified senior leaders had shown willingness and commitment.
“More leaders should come in and all the members of the ANC should then join in so that we ensure that victory is guaranteed,” Mndebele said.
Every member of the ANC must be an organiser and a campaigner, he added.
