ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has poured cold water on the rumoured disbandment of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive committee (PEC) after a dismal showing in the recent provincial elections.
Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium, Mbalula said: “We don’t have to disband structures in KwaZulu-Natal because people who don’t want to be in the ANC have left. There are very few ‘sleepers’ in KwaZulu-Natal. People were destined to leave, one way or the other. [Some] left with JZ [Jacob Zuma] and others have been dismissed in terms of disciplinary action, and all of that.
“KwaZulu-Natal, where it is now, is very clean. There’s no need to be sniffer dogs and run a negative campaign against others or disband structures.”
The ANC lost its position as the governing party in the province, dropping dramatically from 55.47% support to 17.62%.
It was overtaken by the Zuma-led uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), which fell 4% short of the vote to gain a majority.
The MKP co-opted a significant number of the ANC’s ground members and branch leaders.
The ANC flirted with disbanding the province's leadership shortly before the elections after structural challenges.
Several senior national executive committee leaders previously told the Sunday Times the PEC led by Siboniso Duma and Bheki Mtolo had proved incapable of running such an important province.
The IFP was not really a big challenge for us. The big challenge was Jacob Zuma. He was a factor we’ve had to contend with
— Fikile Mbalula, ANC secretary-general
Though the ANC leadership had accepted it would not achieve an outright majority in KwaZulu-Natal, being overtaken by the MKP and the IFP was unexpected.
Party leaders told the Sunday Times the poor showing at the national level, where the ANC barely made it over 40%, could be squarely attributed to the party's dismal performance in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mbalula said the deaths of King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu and former IFP president Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi meant Zuma would take advantage of the void left by the two stalwarts in the province.
“The IFP was not really a big challenge for us. The big challenge was Jacob Zuma. He was a factor we’ve had to contend with. Nothing was there to cushion us and that vote, 2.3-million, that left us and went into the hands of Jacob Zuma, nowhere else. Largely from pockets of Gauteng in the hostels, the IFP lost. Its numbers were reduced to one seat. All those numbers went to Zuma’s party and parts of Mpumalanga also went to his party.
“The Zuma factor in the elections accounts for a splinter group in the ANC born out of inherent weaknesses and subject to factionalism in the party. It went against us in the elections,” Mbalula said.
He said while the ANC had worked hard to minimise the risk posed by the MKP, it was too close to the elections to make significant inroads.
“It’s quite clear Zuma had turned to become another animal,” he said.
Mbalula said the ANC had analysed its performance and attributed its losses in the province to its proximity to the Nazareth Baptist Church, the royal family and Zuma.
“We know now who belongs to the MKP and who has been fooling us. We deliberately took a stance of not pushing people out. But some of them declared their colours.
“We are here. They have left the ANC but the MKP is nothing without Zuma, with due respect,” he said, arguing the MKP was unable to gain wards during the recent by-elections because it could not campaign with the Zuma name.
Mbalula said he was certain MKP members who had defected would come back to the ANC, adding that the party only rejects the incorrigible.
“They will come back, like they have done already. Some have come back to the party and that’s what is going to happen. Good luck to Zuma and his party. It remains to be seen whether the MKP will become a formidable force in the body politic.”
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