ANC faction loyal to Zuma breaks all the rules in its quest for power

One sunny summer afternoon in 2010, Andile Lungisa received a strange call while in the company of journalists, including the author of this piece, at an eatery in Rosebank.

The call came from one of the Gupta brothers, who were secretly involved in his campaign to unseat Julius Malema as ANC Youth League president.

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At the time, the cosy relationship the controversial Gupta family enjoys with President Jacob Zuma was already an open secret.

But this was before Thuli Madonsela's State of Capture report revealed the family's strong influence over some ANC leaders and senior government officials.

Back then, Lungisa was on the verge of becoming one of the most influential leaders at Luthuli House - but only if he were to achieve the impossible by defeating the popular Malema.

This made Lungisa a target for those who sought to "capture" and influence the ruling party.

Unfortunately for him, Lungisa was outmanoeuvred by Malema who was developing into a shrewd politician.

Malema and his lieutenants threatened to remove Lungisa as youth league deputy president and chairman of the National Youth Development Agency. To save his skin, Lungisa apologised and pulled out of the race.

But Malema isolated Lungisa and as a result he was not re-elected at the 2011 youth league national conference.

The bruised Lungisa, whose star was slowly fading into irrelevance, retreated to his home province of the Eastern Cape. There, he worked tirelessly to breathe life back into his political career.

He did bounce back into mainstream politics when he was elected to the ANC Eastern Cape provincial executive committee in 2013.

Since then he has aligned himself with the dominant faction within the ANC and lately has been a vocal supporter of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the ANC succession race.

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So it came as little surprise when Lungisa defied an instruction from ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe - no favourite of the dominant faction - not to campaign for the position of chairman of the ANC's Nelson Mandela Bay region.

Mantashe's instruction chimed with an ANC resolution taken at the 2012 Mangaung conference banning leaders in higher structures from contesting positions in lower structures.

Despite Mantashe's opposition, Zuma, who is supposed to be the custodian of party resolutions and its constitution, flew to Port Elizabeth last week to congratulate Lungisa, which suggested that Lungisa's defiance of Luthuli House had the blessing of Zuma and his dominant faction.

But his election was this week nullified by the ANC's top-six officials, showing further signs of the division in their ranks.

If ever there were any doubts how low the Zuma faction would stoop to win at all costs, the Lungisa incident put them to rest.

Lungisa's actions are in line with those of his faction, which has been consistent in breaking organisational rules and has shown complete disdain for the constitution of the republic.

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Its conduct makes one wonder whether, given an opportunity, it would not be tempted to repeatedly breach the constitution as it advances its interests.

This is the group that orchestrated the parachuting of former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe into parliament - the fact that he did not reside in the province that forwarded his name notwithstanding.

The cries of ANC members in the North West who objected to Molefe's nomination fell on deaf ears. The consensus is that Molefe is poised for a position in Zuma's executive.

The same faction was at the forefront of those who criticised the then public protector Thuli Madonsela after her report, Secure in Comfort, recommended that Zuma pay a portion of the R246-million spent on the non-security upgrades at his Nkandla homestead.

Even after the Constitutional Court found that Zuma had failed to "protect and uphold" the constitution, this faction rallied to Zuma's defence. It pointed fingers at the judiciary, accusing it of being part of a conspiracy by "foreign forces" driving a regime-change agenda.

ANC veterans screamed blue murder that Zuma's ANC was derailing the party's founding values and principles. They were, however, dismissed as a group of bitter individuals.

Zuma is not the only flawed figure this faction has sought to shield from accounting for their blunders or total incompetence. Individuals with dark clouds hanging over their heads such as former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, SAA board chairman Dudu Myeni and Molefe are held in high esteem by this grouping.

This faction hails Motsoeneng as a champion of transformation despite no end of evidence detailing his reign of terror and mismanagement at the public broadcaster, which was laid bare by the parliamentary ad hoc committee a few weeks ago.

Under Myeni, the state-owned airline is operating on a wing and a prayer, has failed to make profit and has survived on government guarantees. But she is defended and praised for fighting "white monopoly capital".

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Members of this group enjoy protection from the highest office in the land. Among them is Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, who was this week lambasted by the Constitutional Court for her handling of the social-grants crisis, but who has been defended by Zuma in parliament, and is unlikely to face censure from the president. He suggested he would act only if the grants weren't paid by April 1.

In the process this faction has not only in some instances broken rules and breached the party's constitution - it has distinguished itself as being expert in going against logic.

These transgressions have been perpetrated at events and on platforms aimed at promoting Dlamini-Zuma's candidacy for the ANC presidency. Her victory would embolden this group.

It would not be surprising if its members dominated influential positions within the party and the state after the December elective conference.

Judging from its behaviour, this group has done little to prove that it can be trusted to uphold and protect the country's constitution if it wins in December.

shobas@sundaytimes.co.za