KZN party boss Mkhize gets tough

As the ANC's national elective conference in Mangaung draws closer, KwaZulu-Natal party chairperson Zweli Mkhize has warned those bent on creating divisions within its branches that they will be dealt with harshly.

Addressing ANC members at a leadership elective conference in the Preva Khumalo region at the weekend, Mkhize said: "The ANC is not for sale. People believe the ANC owes them and cannot deal with their ill-discipline because they are too powerful.

"You must be warned: the ANC may move slowly but one day it will catch up with you," he said.

The Preva Khumalo region has been plagued by divisions since before the local government elections last year.

"This is the region the late ANC president Albert Luthuli, John Makhathini and King Shaka came from and we must honour their legacy and unite the people. The 'me' mentality cannot be tolerated by the ANC. We have to emulate our leaders [and work for the party] ," he said.

Mkhize said the growing trend to disrespect leaders should come to an end and that populist tendencies, ill-discipline and corruption within the ANC should be fought at all costs.

"Humanity, honesty and trustworthiness are important values for people in the ANC."

He said leaders who died during the struggle did not die so that the current generation could fight over positions as councillors, mayors and premiers.

"We must return to the branches to fix the problem of ill-discipline. Those who want to be elected in positions so they can destroy our movement are no good. The ANC does not pay rent to anyone for being a member," Mkhize said.

The youth league, the veterans' league and the women's league were integral parts of the ANC, not autonomous bodies, he said.

"No league is supposed to be the opponent of the ANC. The ANCYL is there to champion the cause of the youth. In the ANC we have alliances that are integral to the ANC," he said.

Mkhize further condemned the disruption of a lecture by President Jacob Zuma at ANC centenary celebrations in Cape Town.

He said such behaviour was last seen in the ANC in 1958 when people wanted to disrupt an ANC meeting that had led to the formation of the PAC.