The battle for the ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial chair is intensifying with the former director-general of the province, Nhlanhla Ngidi, now entering the fray to take on premier Sihle Zikalala and finance MEC Nomusa Dube.
Zikalala and Dube have for months featured as the frontrunners.
KwaZulu-Natal is key in the ANC national elections as it provides the largest delegation to the elective conference, ahead of the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.
Ngidi refused to be drawn into who he supports for ANC national president, saying he is prepared to work with whoever is elected at the December elective conference.
“I do not believe in factions. I want to build a united ANC in KwaZulu-Natal so when we go to the December conference we are speaking with one voice,” he said.
Ngidi, a former Scorpions crime fighter, lost the ANC eThekwini mayoral candidacy to mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and currently serves as an advisor in Zikalala’s office.
He told Business Day that key branches had persuaded him to stand for the chairperson position.
Insiders from the three main regions of eThekwini (Durban), Moses Mabhida (Pietermaritzburg) and Musa Dladla (Richards Bay) say he has the experience for the job.
Unlike Dube and Zikalala, Ngidi has no qualms talking about any desire to compete for the provincial chairperson post.
“I don’t believe in factions or slates. I predicted that if the ANC did not heal itself inside, we were not going to win an outright majority in the eThekwini municipality. We are now leading through a coalition,” he said on Wednesday.
“I have the support of the bigger regions and the key smaller regions to the north and south of the province. I believe the ANC needs leaders who will build the party, unite it and take hard decisions to let go of those who have been charged with corruption. We have to clean up the image of the party and restore its reputation to what it was designed to do – to serve the people.”
Political analyst Protas Madlala says Ngidi will bring a fresh perspective to the ANC leadership in the province. “He has no baggage. He is a civil servant with a clean record. It is an open secret that votes are bought and those with money tend to survive. I hope the voters vote with good conscience rather than being duped time after time.”
Madlala said the latest developments in the ANC political landscape is a blow to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s faction.
“No one that I have spoken to wants Zikalala to return as premier or provincial chair. They want leaders who will deliver. Under his watch the region has suffered lootings and riots and now, with the floods and the humanitarian crises and deaths, does not auger well for him."
Dube on the other hand is seen to be aloof and out of touch with the people, Madlala said.
Should Zikalala lose the provincial election, this will dent Ramaphosa’s aspirations for a second term. Already Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, which have just held their provincial elections, have thrown their weight behind the president.
The region’s choice for president appears to be a two-horse race between former health minister Zweli Mkhize and close Zuma ally Sizani Dlamini-Dubazana.
eThekwini is the ANC’s biggest region and is considered the kingmaker when it comes to the party’s national conference.
“The other powerful region in the province is the Musa Dladla region which on Sunday saw Musa Cebekhulu, a South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) regional leader, elected as chair. He defeated Thembeka Mchunu, a pro-Ramaphosa backer. The trend is not good for the Ramaphosa faction as they have been losing key regions in the province.”
Madlala said Mkhize remains a popular candidate despite facing allegations of corruption linked to the Digital Vibes saga. In this region the rank and file don’t care about “the big issues” but instead want leaders “who they can see, touch and identify with”.
Mkhize has remained mum about his presidential aspirations but Dlamini-Dubazana has publicly confirmed her ambitions for president.
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