The ANC should cleanse itself of rogue elements who have infiltrated the party if it has any hope of arresting the electoral decline it faces.
This is the warning of Bheki Mtolo, the under-fire ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary.
“Many among our members see their membership in the ANC as a means to advance their ambitions to attain positions of power and access to resources for their gratification.”
Mtolo went on to explain that those with no interest in the ANC captured it in order to divide and rule, thereby reducing its majority.
“The issues dividing the leadership of some of our provinces are not of a political nature.
“They have revolved around access to resources, positioning themselves, and dispensing patronage. They use organisational structures to further this goal.
“The ANC is captured. We have seen these rogue elements buying membership cards for people to serve as voting cows.
“These are not members of the ANC, and that’s why they don’t vote for us. They are bought. Their sole role is to vote in BGMs and conferences. But when it comes to the country’s elections, they don’t vote for the ANC,” he said.
Mtolo was delivering the organisational renewal political class in the party’s General Gizenga Mpanza region, covering mainly three local municipalities: KwaDukuza, Mandeni, Maphumulo and Ndwedwe on the province’s north coast.
During the May provincial and general elections, the ANC suffered its heaviest defeat in the region.
It only managed to retain KwaDukuza, losing all the other councils to its splinter party, the MK Party, led by former President Jacob Zuma.
The future of Mtolo and his colleagues in the provincial executive committee is uncertain, as they could potentially face disbandment.
This weekend, the party headquarters summoned the ANC’s top brass to account for the party’s mediocre performance during the last elections.
In KZN, which was the only province where the ANC lost outright, it was a bloodbath.
The party shed close to 40% electoral support from the 54% it had recorded during the 2019 general elections.
The party salvaged a paltry 17% of the provincial vote share.
The MK Party plotted the demise of the ANC, recording 45.3% of the votes. However, the ANC avoided opposition benches when it formed a governing alliance with the DA, IFP, and NFP under the Provincial Government of Unity.
