Wonder Hlongwa
THE man chosen to revive African National Congress fortunes in KwaZulu-Natal’s volatile Midlands region is sceptical about the terms of the province’s embryonic peace package.
Anthony Xaba, who took over as ANC Midlands chair last week, says he is uncomfortable with various points the ANC is discussing with the Inkatha Freedom Party as part of the continuing peace discussions.
The peace-talk provisions include creating a special amnesty for perpetrators of political violence in the province. The ANC has also mooted offering IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi a top national government post.
The IFP, meanwhile, has tabled what amounts to a shopping list of demands, including constitutional amendments to allow for the restoration of the Zulu kingdom.
Xaba says he is not convinced about the peace-package proposals: “We can’t say Kwa- Zulu Natal is going to be a kingdom – that is taking us back to the feudal stage.
“I do support peace initiatives, but I’m not sure if Buthelezi is suitable for a deputy presidency, or any other senior position, just to seal the deal.”
The peace talks are backed by the national leadership of both parties, although they originated with the ANC’s national and provincial chair, Jacob Zuma.
The ANC’s alliance partners, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, have both voiced concern about the plans.
Xaba’s influence in the province is likely to be significant. His main task is to regain popular support which the party has lost to Sifiso Nkabinde, the warlord the ANC expelled from its ranks in April amid spying allegations.
Xaba says the ANC’s structures in the region were weakened by last year’s local government elections, when a string of senior officials went into local government. His main priority is to rebuild the structures to combat Nkabinde’s influence.
“Nkabinde has got nothing to offer to the people,” Xaba says. “There is not even one corner of this region where we will not visit.”
Xaba took over as chair two years after the death of Natal Midlands firebrand Harry Gwala, his former colleague during their imprisonment on Robben Island.