Factions hoping the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) will oppose President Cyril Ramaphosa’s bid to remain at the helm of the party may end up being disappointed, according to newly elected ANC provincial chair Siboniso Duma.
“We want to be convinced of what type of leader the ANC needs, someone who will lead organisational renewal, someone to drive SA’s economy in the right direction. President Ramaphosa may well be that person. If we are convinced, the ANC in KZN may well support him for a second term,” Duma said in an interview with Business Day.
He broke his silence on the ANC succession debate for the first time since being elected in July, pointing out that he campaigned for Ramaphosa to become ANC president in 2017. Reports said Duma was elected to drive the agenda of the so-called radical economic transformation (RET) faction in the ANC, which is opposed to Ramaphosa.
“These factions in the ANC are not as strong as they are being projected. They are making media headlines, but they should stop speaking in my name,” Duma said.
He will lead the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, which will send the largest voting delegation to the party’s elective conference in December.
“As for where we stand, we don’t think the ANC should have a serious contest. We can have a slate that forges unity, unity of purpose,” Duma said.
He added that the provincial ANC’s naming of finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube as Sihle Zikalala’s replacement for premier, making her the first woman premier in the province, is in the interest of unity.
Zikalala resigned last week after being ousted as the ANC’s provincial chair by Duma during the provincial elective conference in July. Zikalala, who is viewed by many as Ramaphosa’s ally, also failed to make it onto the provincial executive committee (PEC).
Dube-Ncube was elected onto the PEC but failed to meet the threshold in her attempt to compete with Duma and Zikalala for the chair position. However, she received the second- highest number of votes for additional members of the PEC at 1,118, behind transport MEC Peggy Nkonyeni with 1,215.
“It is not about us as individuals. It is about the ANC and what is best for the ANC in the build-up to 2024 [general election],” Duma said.
Ramaphosa is widely credited with helping the ANC to keep voters on its side after his campaign in 2017 pledged to crack down on corruption that had become endemic under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, and to introduce structural reforms that boost growth in an economy where one in three adults is without a job.
But some of his critics say he has failed to quickly implement economic reforms, crack down on graft, and carry out some of the key ANC conference resolutions, such as pushing through expropriation of land without compensation.
ANC branches and regions send voting delegates to the party’s national elective conference, while provinces nominate candidates for the top positions, who could also be proposed by 25% on the floor at the conference.
At conferences, provinces make up the bulk of voting delegates and the ANC’s leagues the rest. The party’s alliance partners, Cosatu and the SACP, have speaking rights but cannot vote.
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