Claims that Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota will be KwaZulu-Natal’s premier after the election are not true, African National Congress provincial leader S’bu Ndebele said on Sunday.
Ndebele said the claims — in a pamphlet circulating in the northern parts of the province — shocked him.
Ndebele made the contents of the leaflet known at the Chris Hani-Siyanqoba rally in KwaMashu, north of Durban.
The pamphlet said: ”Since KwaZulu-Natal is not yet ready to have a Xhosa premier a plan was made to calm the people of the province by finding a Sotho person who might be welcomed.
”The person to be the premier if the ANC wins the elections is Terror Lekota. That is why Lekota is campaigning for the ANC in the province, to get used to the people of KwaZulu-Natal. This is a five-year plan of action and then in 2009 a Xhosa-speaking person will take over.”
The pamphlet, written in Zulu, also claimed that Ndebele would be the new national minister of transport based in Cape Town.
It said Deputy President Jacob Zuma would remain in his post.
The author of the pamphlet is not known.
The highlight of the rally, attended by more than 10 000 people, was the announcement that provincial Inkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade secretary Mondli Chiliza has defected to the ANC.
”My brain has been suffocated for so many years because I could not express myself freely,” Chiliza told the gathering.
After speaking to the crowd he was congratulated by senior ANC members including Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Ronnie Kasrils.
South African Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande welcomed Chiliza to the alliance.
The IFP Youth Brigade said the departure of Chiliza was not a loss to the IFP. In a media statement, Sibusisiwe Ngubane, chairperson of the Youth Brigade, said Chiliza had failed on previous occasions to fulfil his duties and had shown ”incompetence” in the party and in his workplaces.
Ngubane added Chiliza had wanted to be on the candidate list for the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature, ”but due to his underperformance and not being favoured by his own comrades, he was not nominated”.
Nzimande told the rally it is important for the people to go to the polls on Wednesday.
”In commemoration of SACP general secretary Chris Hani, who was killed in 1993, people must vote for the ANC to keep his spirit alive. A week before Hani died he was going to visit KwaZulu-Natal. The people must vote ANC to power in the province to complete Hani’s dream.”
Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, Ndebele and Nzimande said the election day will mark the rise of the ANC to power in KwaZulu-Natal and the ”funeral” of the IFP.
Three people were injured at the rally when a railing fell on them. This happened as the supporters tried to cross over the railings to reach the other side of the Princess Magogo Stadium.
The two men and a woman all sustained head injuries and were taken to hospital by ambulance. — Sapa
Special Report: Elections 2004