Threat to snub ANC conference

Dissatisfied ANC members have threatened to boycott the party's KZN elective conference.

Durban - While the ANC is considering disciplining disgruntled members that marched to its provincial offices, branches aligned to eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo on Wednesday threatened to boycott the weekend regional conference.

The turn of events happens as a march to the ANC’s national offices on Friday was thrown into disarray by the Tuesday announcement that the conference would be convened on Saturday and Sunday.

On Wednesday, Sthenjwa Nyawose, one of the organisers of the march to the ANC offices, said: “We are not going to the conference because what will happen there is what they have wanted all along. They want Zandile Gumede to be elected as the chairperson.”

Gumede, who contested the chairman position against Nxumalo, was defeated at the conference held early this year.

Some branches had challenged the conference outcome, citing irregularities, and also marched to the ANC offices.

That conference was nullified paving the way for another conference, which was disrupted amid claims that one branch was deprived of its voting status. Nyawose said the disrupted conference should have been held within six weeks, but all branches were ordered to start afresh with conference preparations, instead of only those that had complaints.

“We can’t be party to a rotten scheme. We want to say there has to be a cleansing ceremony,” he said.

He also claimed that the recent branch meetings were marred by irregularities.

“You can’t have a meeting with bouncers carrying guns,” Nyawose said in reference to claims that security guards monitored the meetings.

Faction

A source linked to the Nxumalo camp said there was a debate on whether the faction should contest following the provincial conference.

“There is a view that if we participate, it (leadership contest) will be rigged and Nxumalo stands no chance to win,” said the source.

The source also said the Nxumalo camp had not been attending the last batch of branch meetings that finalised delegates to the conference.

“People did not care about attending branch meetings as they concerned themselves with the appeals,” the source said. A decision on boycotting the conference was expected to be communicated to Nxumalo-aligned branches on Wednesday, with a press conference in uMlazi on Thursday to officially announce it.

Asked if Nxumalo was aware of the boycott, Nyawose said the issue was not about the mayor. “He will be bound by the decision of the collective,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ANC is determined to discipline the disgruntled members who twice marched to the party offices.

“We are busy with investigation in terms of the identify of those who worked with him (Nyawose). We are still maintaining that they will be dealt with in terms of disciplinary processes of the ANC,” the provincial secretary said.

“No one will march to an ANC office and not be subjected to a disciplinary process,” he said.

Chairman, Sihle Zikalala, previously said all those who had marched to the ANC offices earlier this year would also be charged.

But, Nyawose said the new leadership had no political authority to discipline him for questioning their credibility.

“I complain about the irregular election. Why, then, charge me?” he asked.

Daily News

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