Johannesburg – ANC former eThekwini metro mayor and corruption accused Zandile Gumede looks set to continue his dominance in regional politics with the latest branch nominations pointing to her re-election as chairperson of one the biggest ANC regions in the country.
Pundits liken Gumede to a cult leader because of her mass following.
The former political head of the city seems to have mastered the arts of politics having used her current court case to garner sympathy by portraying herself as a victim, saying her detractors wanted to bury her political career.
This posture appears to have resonated with ordinary party members who have sworn to put their bodies on the line in defense of Gumede.
She is facing charges of fraud, racketeering and corruption pertaining to her involvement in the more than R400 million unlawful Durban solid waste contract during her tenure as mayor.
Ntando Khuzwayo, Gumede’s chief lobbyist and spokesperson for ANC branches in eThekwini supporting Gumede said the upcoming regional elective conference was a mere formality.
“We are just waiting for the date of the conference to be announced officially because it was expected to be at the end of the month. However, we understand that this is highly impossible because some branches have yet to have their BGM’s and branch biennial general meetings. Judging by the recent stats in the branches that have completed the nomination process, mam Gumede is going for a clean sweep,” said Khuzwayo.
According to Khuzwayo, 39 branches have already convened in eThekwini and 34 of these branches have nominated Gumede as their preferred candidate to lead the region.
EThekwini region has 103 ANC branches.
The nomination process in some branches throughout the province has been plagued by allegations of membership manipulation where scanners used to verify ANC membership are allegedly being used to deal with political opponents.
The new membership system was one of the measures adopted by the governing party to prevent voter rigging in branches ahead of elective conferences.
Gumede, one of the heavyweights in the radical economic transformation grouping in the ANC will square off with Thabani Nyawose, a senior manager at the city’s human settlements department.
Nyawose who is touted as the unifier was one of the key movers in galvanizing support for Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of the 2017 Nasrec elective conference.
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