The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal believes Zandile Gumede will adhere to the decisions on the step-aside rule by declining nomination at the party’s elective conference this weekend.
Though Gumede has been accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering and vacated her newly-elected role of eThekwini regional chair, she has appeared on several slates going into this weekend’s conference.
Gumede, a political heavyweight in the province, is expected to be nominated as provincial treasurer despite the party’s national executive committee having taken a decision to prohibit any member facing legal challenges from standing for any position.
Should Gumede accept nomination only to be barred by the NEC decision, the conference could be on the verge of collapsing given her popularity in the party.
ANC KZN secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli said he was not worried about this potential disaster as he believes Gumede will not place her own interests before the party.
“I know Zandile as a member of the ANC understands [and] respects decisions of the national executive committee and at whatever point when she has to make a choice between herself and the ANC I think she will make a choice in favour of the ANC,” Ntuli said.
“So I’m not worried that she’s been nominated and she may be one of the names put before conference to decide [on] who to vote [for].”
Ntuli was addressing the media on the state of readiness before the provincial conference this weekend.
The party in the province will elect new leadership and Gumede is expected to feature prominently.
In Limpopo, strongman and corruption accused Danny Msiza agreed, albeit begrudgingly, to stand down from his nomination as provincial secretary and was replaced by Reuben Madadzhe. His grouping won by a clean sweep.
ANC spokesperson in KZN Nhlakanipho Ntombela said the province does not have powers to tamper with a decision made by the NEC on step-aside rules. The NEC is the highest decision-making body between national conferences.
“There are matters the NEC has finalised that we can’t change as a province. The electoral process tomorrow will be presided over by the NEC and it will give directive on some of those issues if they arise in the conference,” Ntombela said.
Ntuli added that this will play out when the conference starts and names are put forward for nomination.
“The issue of Zandile Gumede being nominated ... there’s many of us who are nominated by many structures of the ANC and those nominations have happened without us being consulted. It is only at the plenary of conference where a nominated comrade will have to stand up and say ‘I accept, or I decline’. Usually you are not required to give reasons why you are declining but others do volunteer reasons,” he explained.
“We don’t know at this stage who qualifies to be nominated It’s only when the electoral commission, led by the national executive committee, presents to plenary that we will know for sure who are nominated comrades. Once that comes out and, as I said, if you are at conference you have to stand up and say I accept If you are not at conference, the requirement is that there must be a way in which you confirm your availability or non-availability, which happens in a written notification to the electoral commission.”
PODCAST | A province run by personal politics - what to expect from the ANC KZN conference
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