African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma’s chief lieutenants in KwaZulu-Natal — who had vowed to take on the party’s national leadership over its ”clumsy” handling of Zuma — were humbled this week when President Thabo Mbeki lorded it over them in the heart of Zumaland.
But his victory is unlikely to be permanent. The Mail & Guardian has seen several confidential submissions to an ANC commission of inquiry, which paints a hair-raising picture of intolerance and factionalism in KwaZulu-Natal and a systematic witch-hunt against perceived opponents of Zuma.
Says one submission to the inquiry: ”These people are ready to kill because the stakes are very high for them and a number of businessmen have invested in the project [to elevate Zuma to the presidency].
”There is a programme to take out progressive comrades in KwaZulu-Natal, which at the moment may take the form of political discrediting and sidelining, but there is also the possibility of bloodshed.”
This week’s pow-wow, at the Durban Jewish Club, was attended by the ANC top six — Mbeki; his deputy, Zuma; party chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota; secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe; deputy secretary Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele; and treasurer Mendi Msimang — and 40 members of the provincial executive committee (PEC).
It stemmed from a decision of the PEC last June to meet the top brass and ask them to explain why Zuma was being ill-treated. The KwaZulu-Natal party barons believed the national office was playing along with a plot to discredit Zuma as a presidential candidate and had not defended him against a perceived abuse of his rights by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
But Zuma’s key backers in the province — including provincial ANC secretary Senzo Mchunu, eThekwini regional chairperson and provincial minister of safety and security Bheki Cele, and eThekwini regional secretary John Mchunu — reportedly froze when confronted by Mbeki and his fellow national office-bearers.
Cowering
A provincial minister, who asked to remain anonymous, said Zuma’s backers ”were found wanting” to such an extent that ”they individually voiced their support for the president and denied being part of any plot to undermine his authority, embarrass him and those seen to be supporting him, or hatching a plot to ensure that the entire province is a no-go area for the president”.
”At the meeting, the same people masqueraded as innocent people with no knowledge of the allegations that they were behind plots to embarrass the president and the KwaZulu-Natal premier [S’bu Ndebele].
”The same people stood up in front of the president saying they did not know all the things reported in the media. They said they supported and respected the president and had done their best to rein in members who sought to undermine his authority,” the minister said.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that members of the KwaZulu-Natal executive of the ANC had written to Luthuli House complaining that Zuma supporters in the provincial leadership were waging a campaign to make the province a ”no-go area” for Mbeki.
The president was severely embarrassed last year when an organised group heckled him at struggle icon Moses Mabhida’s reburial ceremony in Pietermaritzburg and then staged a walkout.
However, Mbeki had a distinctly triumphant air when he made an unscheduled appearance at the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebrations at the Durban Jewish Club after meeting the provincial leaders.
In an impromptu speech, he said national executive committee members should ensure that ANC structures in the province were running smoothly because ”if there are problems, if they fight among themselves then they will forget about you. And if we fight at national level among ourselves, he [Ndebele] will be diverted by our fight and forget about you.”
He clearly intends keeping a firmer watch, and grip, on party machinations in KwaZulu-Natal.
Motlanthe said after this week’s meeting that it would be ”the first in a series of meetings that we will hold … to consolidate the unity and cohesion of this province”.
A hollow victory
But the political climate appears to be dangerously overheated in key areas of KwaZulu-Natal. The M&G has seen copies of submissions to the ANC commission set up to investigate the Mabhida reburial ceremony walkout, which paints a frightening picture of profound divisions, and the harassment of dissenters in the KwaZulu-Natal ANC over the Zuma issue.
One submission declares that ”the space for democratic expression by rational comrades was closed, and Senzo [Mchunu — provincial secretary] entertained the unruly elements who at times could threaten the lives of other comrades if seen not to be active on the so-called Zuma support on [the] corruption trial and the presidency of the country”.
In the submissions, Mchunu is criticised for ”the demise of leadership in the province”. Lax leadership is seen as motivated by the desire to protect those involved in incidents denigrating Mbeki and Ndebele.
Asked to comment on the allegations against him, Mchunu said: ”We have not making any further comment on any issue relating to the task team [investigating the heckling of Mbeki] and its inquiry. Its findings will be made public in two to three weeks.”
Speaking to the M&G anonymously, a former Umkhonto weSizwe commander and author of a letter to the ANC’s provincial and national executive committees requesting intervention in the KwaDukuza region said: ”There is a deadly witch-hunt going on in KwaZulu-Natal.”
The source alleged that the pro-Zuma camp was also intent on sabotaging political education workshops and gaining control in ”strategic wards like Groutville, where Chief Albert Luthuli’s house and museum is situated”.
”They want to capture the ward and play up the similarities between comrade JZ and Luthuli, who was a Zulu and former leader of the ANC. Ethnicity had been the main thrust of JZ’s campaign,” he said.
It has been reported that there is a push by Zuma’s lieutenants to target and expose as troublemakers members of the ”Dumisani Makhaye brigade”, including Mlungisi Ndhlela, a former political adviser to Durban mayor Obed Mlaba; former KwaDukuza (Stanger) mayor Siyanda Mhlongo; and well-known activist Phillip Mhlongo, who works in the office of the KwaDukuza mayor.
The late Makhaye was a fervent Mbeki loyalist who never missed an opportunity to defend him. His death weakened the Mbeki lobby in KwaZulu-Natal and exposed Ndebele to abuse by Zuma-aligned members of his cabinet and the PEC.
The three members of the ”Dumisani Makhaye brigade” feel they have been targeted by Mchunu, who publicly revealed that they had given evidence to the inquiry into the Mbeki booing.
Phillip Mhlongo is known to lead a Mbeki lobby in the Bhambatha/Greater Umsinga region in southern Zululand, while Siyanda Mhlongo is accused of being part of a lobby seeking to dilute Zuma’s support in the Stanger area.
Siyanda Mhlongo told the M&G that Mchunu had put the lives of the trio in danger. ”It’s not so much about a feeling that we support this person or that person, but more about the fact that there are people who will not think rationally.
”We’re living in an environment characterised by political intolerance. To reveal our identities like he did was unethical, incorrect, mischievous and smacked of a plot to target us in future.”
Mhlongo is known to have argued during PEC meetings and other public platforms including the media that ANC members should elect leaders of good moral standing at the ANC’s national conference in December. This had been construed as lack of support for Zuma. ”This has not gone down very well with some leaders in the province,” he said.
Mbeki supporters this week confirmed that there was a plot to make sections of the province no-go areas for the president.
A provincial minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: ”The recent developments speak for themselves. It is clear that they were well planned.
”The president can address areas like Sisonke district [near Umzimkhulu] where he held an imbizo last year. But he will have a tough time speaking in Umlazi, KwaMashu and Durban. These are all areas that are controlled or influenced by the leadership of the eThekwini metro council, who have been at the forefront of the booings.”
The minister said the plan was launched at last year’s ANC national general council, where Zuma supporters rose in open revolt against Mbeki after he had sacked Zuma from his Cabinet.