KZN leaders upset at decision to oust Zuma

ANC branch leaders in KwaZulu-Natal have expressed their unhappiness over the decision to recall former president Jacob Zuma.

The province was a stronghold of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the run-up to the national conference in Nasrec‚ where she was bested in December by Cyril Ramaphosa.

It is understood that during a protracted and tense closed-door meeting‚ branch leaders from across the eThekwini region expressed their concerns over the decision to remove Zuma last week.

The ANC national executive committee served Zuma with a letter recalling him and giving him an ultimatum to resign ahead of a vote of no confidence scheduled to take place in the national assembly.

While several days after the fact‚ and with Zuma out and Ramaphosa now firmly entrenched in the Union Buildings‚ NEC members Zweli Mkhize and Barbara Creecy arrived in Durban to report back and table a report on the decision to recall Zuma. But the update was seen as too little too late by the KZN leadership.

The party’s erstwhile ANC treasurer-general said the briefing was part of larger plans to brief branch leaders on why Zuma was recalled. This follows a series of meetings between NEC members and branch leaders held at the weekend.

“We were able to table the report on the events that have taken place in terms of the recall of the president and his resignation‚ as well as the swearing in of the new president‚” Mkhize said.

Mkhize said the branches had aired their discontentment at the move to oust Zuma‚ as well as the manner in which the decision was communicated to them.

“We had the branches making their comments on this matter – a number of branch leaders expressed their concerns about the decision‚ but in saying that‚ they understand that it is a decision by which they will abide‚” Mkhize said.

“There are other internal issues which they would like us to look at‚ particularly the manner in which things are being handled in the media.”

The message he conveyed from the closed-door meeting was that branch chairs wanted to be kept in the loop so as to avoid being notified of key changes in the party via the media.