Durban - A once dominant faction in the ANC eThekwini region in support of former mayor Zandile Gumede suffered a severe blow over the weekend after some of her key lobbyists were snubbed during the recent nominations for councillor candidates.
While Gumede is not contesting to be nominated as a councillor as she is already serving in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, some of her key lieutenants did not make it.
Some of her supporters opted not to contest while others were defeated in wards they won in 2016.
Others on the other hand were forced out by the ANC’s step-aside resolution.
Among Gumede’s key lobbyists who did not make it was councillor Sifiso Mngadi of ward 24 in Chesterville, Mondli Mthembu, a senior ANC councillor who once chaired one of the committees and outgoing ward 87 councillor, Nomthandazo Shabalala.
Mthembu and Shabalala were forced by the ANC not to contest because they are facing criminal charges emanating from the Durban Solid Waste tender that got Gumede arrested.
Mngadi downplayed his exclusion, saying he chose not to contest in his ward but insisted that he would remain active in the ruling party.
“No, I decided not to contest at all, it is not that I was defeated during the nominations as they want you to believe,” Mngadi said.
Gumede’s faction is not happy that the final top 10 proportional representatives (PR) list was topped by Thabani Nyawose who is contesting against Gumede to be the next ANC eThekwini regional chairperson.
One of Gumede’s supporters claimed that this was done to give Nyawose an upper hand in the regional conference.
Spokesperson for Gumede’s supporters, Ntando Khuzwayo, a councillor in eThekwini who was able to defend his ward, said they did harbour the suspicions that Nyawose was being parachuted by some in the provincial office.
“It is impossible that Nyawose was number one in the PR list, unless a miracle happened. We know for a fact that Zama Sokhabase and Nkosenhle Madlala (both are Gumede lobbyists) were number one and number two, respectively. This is what happens when a region does not have an elected leadership, that’s why we wanted the regional conference to go ahead,” Khuzwayo claimed.
The PR list is normally topped by a candidate that the ANC intends to appoint as the next mayor shortly after the elections.
Khuzwayo added that Nyawose’s elevation raises questions about what he was promised by the provincial leadership before he agreed to leave his stable job as a senior manager in the same municipality and contest to become a PR councillor.
“Some PEC (provincial executive committee) members are using him to achieve their own political goals,” he said.
Khuzwayo denied that the latest developments have weakened them, saying the results that are being seen are a product of a process that was manipulated.
“I don’t think we are any weaker after this, not at all,” he added.
But Nyawose denied that he was being positioned for the top position by some in the PEC, saying he was nominated by the majority of 111 wards that were asked to submit names of their preferred candidates.
According to Nyawose, when the list was presented to the regional task team (RTT) which he and Gumede and some of her supporters are members of, he was number one. The PEC merely endorsed the will of the branches.
“When they (PEC) received the list, I was number one, and they decided to keep my name as number one. That was not because of favouritism, it was because I met all the expected requirements,” Nyawose said.
Political analyst, Xolani Dube from Xubera Institute maintained that Nyawose’s perceived victory was not about him having an upper hand over Gumede but it was all about ANC leaders placing him at the top in order not to rock the ANC which is currently being steered by ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
He said no one wanted to risk irking Ramaphosa by side lining one of his key allies in the eThekwini region which is heavily contested by the two dominant factions within the ruling party.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
Political Bureau