Sanco says Zuma's MK endorsement is not constitutional breach

Sanco in KwaZulu-Natal says Jacob Zuma’s ANC elections snub in favour of newly formed party Umkhonto we Sizwe will not get him in trouble with the organisation.

Zuma is Sanco's chairperson, while the organisation is an alliance partner of the ANC, a party that Zuma also still belongs. 

Sanco, along with other tripartite alliance partners such as Cosatu and the SACP, traditionally campaign for the ANC ahead national and provincial elections.

Zuma stunned all at the weekend when he announced that he would neither be voting nor campaigning for the ANC ahead of the 2024 elections, and would instead vote for the Umkhonto we Sizwe party, a new political outfit.

The leaders of Sanco in KZN on Wednesday said constitutionally, Zuma was not obligated to politically align with the ANC. 

Unlike the ANC in KZN, which said Zuma’s decision was "unprecedented" and equates to "divorcing the ANC", Sanco has no qualms with his political choices.

“Msholozi is still with us as our chairperson — he can wear his MK T-shirt and go out to campaign for MK, but not walk out with a Sanco T-shirt to campaign for MK, then we will have a problem,” provincial secretary Sizwe Cele said. 

Cele said while they (the rest of Sanco) are going to vote ANC, they will not be giving the ANC a blank cheque and will demand that the ANC take into account their interests.

While Zuma’s endorsement has been widely seen as a blow to the ANC’s electoral fortunes in KZN, Sanco has raised concerns about the state of the current ANC provincial leadership.

Cele said there was a dire lack of leadership of the ANC in the province, under provincial chairperson Siboniso Duma and secretary Bheki Mtolo. 

“The KZN province is losing members and supporters. All we are getting is comrade Mtolo attacking those who are leaving on television. KZN is bleedin, and we are about to bleed more if there is no plan. Sanco can't imagine a KZN led by the IFP, which will reverse all the gains of the past which these two found in office,” Cele said.

“We call upon the ANC Luthuli House to take over the running and management of the 2024 elections programme because it seems the load is bigger than what the leadership can handle, at the very least Luthuli House must provide close supervision to KZN.”

He revealed that Sanco has plans to mobilise its members to protest for the removal of Duma and Mtolo if they are not prepared to “improve their attitudes”. 

Cele added that Umkhonto we Sizwe veterans joining the party endorsed by Zuma are suffering and had been promised housing and education for children. He called on the ANC to engage the veterans who have left and those who remain and fulfil their promises.

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