The ANC has confirmed that it has deployed KwaZulu-Natal heavyweights Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Zweli Mkhize to boost its elections machinery in the province.
With the general elections on the horizon, the ANC has no appetite to discipline some of its key KwaZulu-Natal draw cards who defied the party line in parliament during a vote on the Phala Phala scandal.
ANC insiders who asked to remain anonymous said the party was unlikely to act against Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Zweli Mkhize before the 2024 elections. The ruling party is in serious danger of seeing its share of the vote dip below 50%.
The two ANC heavyweights were among party leaders, including former North West chair Supra Mahumapelo and Tandi Mahambehlala, who voted for President Cyril Ramaphosa to face an impeachment process over questions about the source of the foreign currency stolen from his Phala Phala game farm.
Party chair Gwede Mantashe led the charge for Dlamini-Zuma and Mkhize to be disciplined. The two also voted for parliament to create an ad hoc committee to investigate the scandal.
Two national working committee (NWC) members said leaders from KwaZulu-Natal pushed back strongly in the national executive council (NEC) — the party’s highest decision-making body — saying the ANC should hold off taking any action against the two senior leaders before the elections.
The ruling party has been at pains to arrest a further decline in its electoral numbers in the province. KwaZulu-Natal has the second largest registered voter block in South Africa at 20.79%, behind Gauteng, which has 23.45%
The ANC’s biggest drawcard in KwaZulu-Natal, former president Jacob Zuma, was recently elected chair of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) in the province, to the surprise of the ANC.
The provincial leadership has been plagued by governance issues and political turmoil. The Inkatha Freedom Party — the ANC’s biggest rival in KwaZulu-Natal — is in pole position to regain the majority when the country goes to the polls next year. All this has left senior ANC officials reluctant to cause any further instability in the province.
Mkhize, who unsuccessfully ran against Ramaphosa for party president in the ANC’s December elective conference, received the lion’s share of support from his home province. Dlamini-Zuma is also counted among the ANC national leaders who wield influence in the province.
“There is a very strong sentiment within the movement that there should be a disciplinary action against NDZ and Mkhize for what they did in parliament, but there is no way you will have capacity as national leadership to contain the situation,” one NWC member commented, saying that although the ANC must be seen to act against any member who defied the organisation, the two were just “too important” ahead of next year’s vote.
“You can’t take action like that against those two, the most senior leadership from KZN while you also have a Zuma problem. If we take them to a disciplinary committee, we must fully appreciate the consequences of taking them.
“I’ve always been saying we need to accommodate them to contain the political implications. There are actions that are correct, which you may delay taking, because consequences may be so devastating. Simply delay, you don’t avoid, you delay,” they added.
Dlamini-Zuma and Mkhize received a reprieve from punishment in December. Then ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said action against Dlamini-Zuma, Mervyn Dirks, Mahambehlala, Mosebenzi Zwane and Mahumapelo had been halted because the outgoing NEC believed that “we should not use disciplinary measures to stifle debate”.
But in April, parliamentary chief whip Pemmy Majodina handed over a report to the NWC that recommended that action be taken against the rebels. The Sunday Times quoted Majodina as saying there was evidence that the MPs had failed to carry out the party mandate on two occasions, adding: “Each member in each party [must] toe the party line.”
Majodina had not responded to questions from the Mail & Guardian at the time of publication.
A second NWC member said part of the problem was that the provincial leadership had failed to contain Zuma. They said the former president’s election as chair of Sanco was proof to Luthuli House that the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, under Siboniso Duma’s leadership, was “very far away from the old man”.
“I cannot imagine them now pulling in the same direction with Zuma in this election unless national [leadership] intervenes. They [ANC in KZN] don’t have the charisma to replace Zweli and Zweli is no longer happy with them,” they said.
“When we went to elect the national working committee, [provincial secretary Bheki] Mtolo betrayed Mkhize and Bathabile [Dlamini] and Batha and sided with [Fikile] Mbalula because he’s now looking for new friends. He is done with the old ones. So now it’s catching up with them in the province.”
In contrast with the inaction against Dlamini-Zuma and Mkhize, the ANC has acted against regional leaders who have voted with the opposition in local government.
The latest such move was in the North West, where the party expelled seven members who had voted with the opposition. In Gauteng, two branch leaders were suspended for speaking against the ANC’s alliance with the Economic Freedom Fighters in metros.
Asked for comment, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu committed to responding to the M&G at a later stage.