The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday unanimously threw its weight behind former health minister Zweli Mkhize as the party’s presidential candidate, leaving current president Cyril Ramaphosa and other hopefuls out of its provincial nominations.
The support for Mkhize comes notwithstanding his alleged links to the multimillion-rand Digital Vibes scandal, in which some of his family members are said to have benefited financially. He has legally challenged the findings of the Special Investigating Unit’s allegations.
Mkhize’s nomination came a few hours after a late-night statement by former president Jacob Zuma in which he availed himself for a top-six position in the ANC. Zuma also reiterated his support for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to run for the party’s president.
Others nominated on the provincial ticket are ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile for deputy president; deputy public enterprises minister Phumulo Masualle for secretary-general; ANC head of organising Nomvula Mokonyane for deputy secretary-general; and Limpopo premier Stan Mathabatha for chairperson. No name was put forward for treasurer-general.
Dlamini-Zuma’s name did not feature in the team announced by provincial executive committee (PEC) secretary Bheki Mtolo at the Durban briefing on Tuesday morning.
Mtolo said the PEC was comfortable that Mkhize was not under investigation by any law enforcement authority. He said the former minister has not been charged with any crime and that parliament’s ethics committee and the department of health’s internal probe did not implicate him in any wrongdoing.
KwaZulu-Natal is the ANC’s largest province in terms of membership — a staggering 136,267 members. It will have 819 delegates out of more than 4,000 at the party’s December conference.
Mtolo declined to give the level of support for Dlamini-Zuma, who received an endorsement from her branch in early September.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has already received endorsements from the leadership of six provinces for a second term at the helm of the ANC. He narrowly beat Dlamini-Zuma to the post in 2017.
To be on the ballot for the December conference, candidates need either support from a province or 25% support from the conference floor.
According to the Institute for Global Dialogue’s Sanusha Naidu, Mkhize’s endorsement is not a surprise and underscores the importance of voices from the branches on the ground.
“The branch support is clear. The province sees him as a candidate with immense bargaining and negotiating currency that they can take to other structures and other provinces,” Naidu said.
“What would be interesting to watch is how much of a shift and influence he would bring to the contestation. Further, having pitched Paul Mashatile as his running mate is interesting.”
Political analyst Protas Madlala said he is not convinced that the Zumas still carry much weight in the province. Jacob Zuma’s indication that he was available for the party’s chairmanship was laughable.
The former president’s statement a day before the provincial announcement had failed to change the view of the provincial executive or the eThekwini region, where he has strong support.
“He may support NDZ [Dlamini-Zuma], but as a leader she is not appealing and is viewed as someone who should have retired from politics a while ago,” Madlala said.
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