Mchunu at centre of ANCYL strife in Western Cape

Fresh from a historic court victory in KwaZulu-Natal‚ the province’s former premier is at the centre of a clash between ANC Youth League leaders in the Western Cape.

The party’s Overberg regional task team invited Senzo Mchunu to be the main speaker at an ANCYL cadres forum on Saturday‚ but the event will be scrapped if the league’s provincial leaders get their way.

Mchunu‚ a Cyril Ramaphosa supporter‚ is touted as the next ANC secretary-general on the slate that wants the deputy president to succeed Jacob Zuma as ANC leader.

But the ANCYL nationally wants Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to succeed her ex-husband and the Western Cape leadership supports the call.

Speaking to TimesLIVE on Wednesday‚ league provincial chairman Muhammad Khalid Sayed said the event had not been sanctioned.

“If any regional structure wants to get any national speakers or ANC leaders‚ they have to process it through ourselves as the province and nothing of that has happened‚” said Sayed.

“If any structure‚ especially an appointed structure‚ does not fall in line with that it means politically they are not adhering to the mandate of the youth league.”

The Overberg ANCYL coordinator‚ Connie Tafu-Nwonkwo‚ said they had informed Sayed and his colleagues in the province about the event but did not receive a response.

She said the event was not factional‚ and that the main problem with their line-up of speakers was that they were seen to belong in a faction.

“We don’t know that‚ we know them as ANC members. That’s where the misunderstanding comes from‚” she added.