The ANC top brass has all but lost faith in the KwaZulu-Natal ANC leadership’s ability to turn the tide and win next year’s provincial vote convincingly and is toying with the notion of disbanding it.
The loss of confidence has been precipitated by the recent collapse of the school-feeding scheme, which left at least 5 000 poor pupils attending classes on an empty stomach. Aggravating the situation is the ground gained by the IFP in recent months after it won a series of by-elections. The party poses a formidable challenge for the ANC in the upcoming general elections.
Since the young “Talibans” took control of the local KwaZulu-Natal ANC executive in July last year, at least 12 by-elections have been held in the country’s second-most-populated province, with the party winning only four wards.
According to discussions on the sidelines of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting last weekend, the governing party’s decline in the province could be attributed to mismanagement and the provincial leaders’ failure to properly articulate the ANC’s position.
An NEC member, who did not want to be identified, said that during the four-day meeting last weekend, the party “asked for a full report on the collapse of the school nutrition programme and we still don’t have it”.
“We said it must be attended to quickly because we do not know what happened. The biggest problem with KZN is that the centre of the ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) is not holding. They are sinking, especially if you look at the by-elections we lose,” said the insider.
Another NEC member said provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo “is hotheaded and behaves like a warlord”. “How can an ANC leader refer to themselves as a
Taliban? He does not listen, he just shouts, and he knows everything.”
Responding to Sunday World questions, Mtolo said: “Please try to ask critical questions. These ones represent intellectual laziness… please improve then you will EARN (sic) the right to engage with me.” Luthuli House did not respond to questions.
Another NEC member said “the majority of the NEC feels that the PEC must be dissolved because it is not sustainable”.
The member said that since the Talibans won the provincial conference “they have not managed to consolidate their power and win elections, and it is all about serving our people and winning elections”.
A third NEC member said despite the challenges with the provincial leadership, it would be risky to dissolve the province so close to the election next year. “You would rather reinforce them and decide after the elections what to do. So that you are not distracted by internal battles in the ANC and focus on the elections.”
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