Zuma in last-ditch bid to save KZN provincial executive committee allies

24 September 2017 - 00:00 By QAANITAH HUNTER

President Jacob Zuma launched an eleventh-hour fight to save his allies, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive committee, after the ANC's national executive committee decided to disband the structure.
The Sunday Times can reveal that, in his closing remarks at the special NEC meeting, Zuma disagreed with the popular view that the ANC should not appeal against the High Court in Pietermaritzburg's judgment nullifying the results of the 2015 provincial elective conference in KwaZulu-Natal.
The removal of the KwaZulu-Natal structure would hamper Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's campaign to succeed the president. The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has actively campaigned for Dlamini-Zuma.
The NEC is second only to the ANC's national conference when it comes to making decisions - and only the national conference may review the NEC's resolutions.
MESSY INTERVENTION
ANC NEC members who attended the meeting said Zuma had insisted that the party get a legal opinion from a senior counsel before appointing a provincial task team.
"Zuma was pushing for an appeal ... and [that] the PEC must remain intact as a result," a source said.
"Before Zuma spoke, [secretary-general Gwede] Mantashe summarised the position once again, saying a [provincial task team] would be put in place to take over from the now nullified leadership," said an NEC member who asked not to be named."It was decided that the [task team] would be established, with some members [from] the current PEC and others from the aggrieved side, and then a declaratory order would be sought," the source said.
But Zuma's utterances sparked a fresh debate, which was described by some NEC members as "messy" because the majority had agreed that the KwaZulu-Natal executive be replaced by a provincial task team.
"There was a commotion because people thought that the summary was not inclusive of all views and that the PEC cannot be dissolved. We must get a legal opinion first," a source sympathetic to Zuma said.
PUTSCH PUSHBACK
Zuma's detractors hit back, saying it was the decision of the NEC that the provincial leadership be disbanded.
Zuma's backers initially tried to convince the NEC to appeal the decision. But when that was rejected, they pleaded with the NEC to convert the current KwaZulu-Natal structure to a provincial task team."We said no - there must be an inclusive structure that accommodates both sides," said an NEC member.
Another NEC member said it was ANC chairwoman Baleka Mbete who took Zuma head-on.
"She stood her ground and said all the issues the president is raising are the details of the process. The primary resolution of the NEC is that a [task team] would be established there," the source said.
Mantashe was at pains to explain what the decision was.
"The NEC mandated the national working committee to establish a strong, inclusive and unifying provincial task team which will be tasked with preparing for a provincial conference in KwaZulu-Natal," he said.
ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairman Sihle Zikalala and provincial secretary Super Zuma told the Sunday Times their committee had not been disbanded and they remained in their respective positions.
"In fact, we initiated [that] while the appeal and legal process are ongoing, we need to unite the organisation and therefore we said we can start preparing [for] a conference and start by putting together a [task team]," said ZikalalaWE'RE STILL IN CHARGE
Zikalala said they remained at the helm of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, pending the receipt of legal advice. "We are working ... if the legal team concludes we must appeal, then we will be there. We were mandated to look for a senior counsel to provide us with a legal opinion," he said.
Super Zuma was adamant that the appeal route was the right path to take.
"The PEC is still there, pending all these developments," he said.
But an NEC member said this interpretation of the NEC decision was flawed.
"Any activity by this PEC is now illegal. According to the court, there is no PEC," he said.
- Additional Reporting by Nathi Olifant..

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