'Durban is not ready to receive Jesus'

Jesus Christ would land in Durban if the ANC did not end factionalism in the eThekwini region, the SA Communist Party said yesterday.

President Jacob Zuma once infamously said that the ANC would rule until the second coming of Jesus.

"Most of Durban's people believe in Jesus, but they are not ready to receive him in Durban.

"We have seen quite enough with things happening in Cape Town.

"We could not take action to prevent this thing from moving to Port Elizabeth - and now to the economic hub of the country," SACP secretary Themba Mthembu said in Durban, where the party held its three-day provincial council meeting at the weekend.

"We must not sit down and fold our arms. We definitely must engage the ANC on how to prevent Jesus landing in Durban."

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Mthembu was referring to the DA's local government election victories in Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay.

He said factionalism and "being above the people's interests" were preventing the ANC from "taking the eThekwini region seriously".

"We want to sit with the ANC to debate about eThekwini on whether we are doing enough to prevent it from following Tshwane and other metros. It is a meeting that must take place.

"We still believe we are not serious about eThekwini and are not giving eThekwini the prestige it deserves," Mthembu said.

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The SACP's provincial council concluded from a detailed analysis of poll results that the DA's strong showing in the election did "not translate into its internal strength, but rather reflected the weaknesses of the ANC".

Mthembu was confident that drawing attention to the ANC's weaknesses in eThekwini would not fuel tensions between the two parties.

The SACP plans to call for a meeting of the members of the tripartite alliance to map out an "implementation programme with necessary remedies and revitalisation of the alliance".