ANC disbands 'weak' KZN regional committee

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has disbanded its Josiah Gumede regional executive committee (REC) after weeks of unrest in Ladysmith, a town located in the region.

However, provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli said there was no link between the decision by the provincial executive committee (PEC) to dissolve the region and the protest in Ladysmith.

“There is a rapid decline in the state of municipalities. Service delivery is becoming a challenge because the central authority that must lead every deployee is weak and becoming weaker. The PEC felt that to keep that REC is against the interests of the ANC,” said Ntuli.

The region houses the uThukela district municipality, one of 11 districts in KwaZulu-Natal. The district is made up of the Okhahlamba, Alfred Duma and Inkosi Langalibalele local municipalities.

Ntuli said the decision came after months of internal infighting in the region, which led to the province appointing an interim secretary after secretary Sipho Hlomuka was elected to the provincial executive committee (PEC).

“At the heart of their problems was that the REC was cracking. There were two groups emerging in the REC. The group that did not have an acting regional secretary on their side had a feeling that he did not do his work in a manner that is consistent with what is supposed to be done by a secretary,” he said.

He said the REC in its current form was having “serious difficulties” in providing leadership, not only to structures of the ANC but to communities governed by the party.

Ntuli said it was urgent that challenges in the region and the Uthukela municipality were resolved, as the ANC had only taken over the district municipality from the IFP after the 2016 local government elections.

“The opposition [IFP] there is working very hard to come back and lead the district. We got that region from the IFP, we are yet to consolidate ourselves properly and yet we are confronted by internal problems.

“We have an REC that is daily failing what it is supposed to be doing to lead the organisation and to make sure that those who are deployed in government are supported and accountable.”

He added that the ANC would prefer to start preparing for local government elections with elected structures, however the party had to postpone three outstanding regional conferences including eThekwini, Moses Mabhida and Lower South Coast for three months because of the coronavirus.

“The lifespan of our interim structures was extended by three months. We hope that by early April the world and our country would have defeated the virus. If that happens and we succeed, we will resume conferences.

“It is our commitment to ensure that the structures of the ANC are properly constituted and elected, long before we start our preparation for local government elections.”