ANC branches in KwaZulu-Natal are split between those supporting Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, former health minister Zweli Mkhize and those in favour of President Cyril Ramaphosa retaining the leadership of the party.

A total of 4,250 voting delegates are expected to participate and vote at the ANC’s December elective conference.

KwaZulu-Natal, which has a total membership of 136,267, will send the biggest delegation to the conference, 877 delegates, followed by the Eastern Cape, with 684 delegates, and Limpopo, with 613. The Northern Cape will have only 239 delegates and the Western Cap 283 delegates.

Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga have already endorsed Ramaphosa to retain his position. KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, North West and Free State are yet to declare their favourite for the top position. While the newly elected North West ANC leader, Nono Maloyi, has indicated that he prefers Ramaphosa to retain his position, his Provincial Executive Committee has not pronounced on the matter. 

Ahead of the ANC’s 2017 conference at Nasrec, divisions in the KZN ANC resulted in the province not having anyone in the top six for the first time since the party’s unbanning in 1990. In 2017, Dlamini Zuma lost by a narrow margin to Ramaphosa, while Mkhize, who had initially campaigned for the top job, pulled out just months before the conference when the numbers did not agree with him.

On Saturday, Bheki Mtolo, the ANC’s KZN provincial secretary, sent a memo to all 11 regions instructing them to convene branch general meetings on Monday and Tuesday “to discuss leadership preferences towards the national conference”. 

The memo said the province would wait to see who the branches nominated and go with the leaders who received the most nominations.

“As the ANC in KZN, we wish to remind our structures that it is the branches that control the power and future of this movement. Therefore, it is for these reasons, as elected leadership, we [expect] the branches to take charge and determine a new socioeconomic trajectory of this country — using the ANC as the vehicle,” Mtolo said.

Some branches have already announced their nominations for preferred candidates. Both Mkhize and Dlamini Zuma have received nominations, particularly in the Moses Mabhida Region. Dlamini Zuma was nominated at an event at her eThekwini Ward 32 branch on Sunday night. 

Njabulo Mtolo, the ANC’s spokesperson for the Moses Mabhida Region, said the region would hold a meeting on Tuesday of all its branches and consolidate nominations before making an announcement about who they will support.

“There are many names being bandied about. But these names are said outside the ANC structures. We are following a directive from the province for the official nomination process to commence. But we will know for sure which leaders have been nominated after tomorrow’s [Tuesday’s] meeting,” he said.

A prominent ANC leader in eThekwini, who asked not to be named, said the ANC in eThekwini and the entire KZN province would go to the national conference divided.

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“The emergence of NDZ [Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma] has further divided the province. Now some will be going to the conference with her name, others will be supporting Zweli and others are saying Cyril must be allowed to continue. 

“Some leaders are saying it was wrong for Msholozi [Jacob Zuma] to instruct them to go for NDZ. We went out of our way to support her in 2017. But, remember, when we were fighting against Cyril, never once did she come out to support us. Instead, she supported Cyril and decided to work with him and got a cosy ministerial position, leaving us in the lurch,” he said.

“Now she is coming back needing our support. This time, we will not support her. We will defy uBaba [Zuma] and not support her,” he said.  

Zenzele Msomi, the Harry Gwala regional secretary, said the regional leadership had met with all the branches on Monday to inform them they can now “freely nominate leaders of their choice”. Branch general meetings will be held throughout the week, with most expected to take place at the weekend.

“We are telling them to make their own choices to avoid accusations of the past when it was said branches are controlled by higher structures. We want them to make their choices and thereafter we will consolidate the nominations and make an announcement,” Msomi said.

A leader in the region, who asked not to be named, said that while Dlamini Zuma was born and raised in the Harry Gwala Region, Mkhize seemed to be favoured by most ANC branches in the region.

“Many are saying NDZ was given a chance to run and failed in 2017. Most people say Mkhize must be given a chance also to run and see how he fares,” he said.

Zakhele Ndlovu, a political analyst based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the timing of Dlamini Zuma entering the ANC presidential race had further divided the party in the province.

“Before she joined the race, it was going to be Zweli against Cyril. With NDZ now running, the province will be split three ways. As things stand, Cyril has got most nominations from other provinces and it is very unlikely that either NDZ or Mkhize would be able to unseat him.

“So, it is possible that the province will come out empty-handed, without anyone from the province in the top six leadership of the ANC, unless they compromise and push for another candidate who will contest any of the other five positions,” Ndlovu said.

Last week, ANC KZN leaders met with their Mpumalanga counterparts to persuade each other to vote together during the December conference. Mpumalanga has already announced that it supports Ramaphosa retaining his position and wants Justice Minister Ronald Lamola as his deputy. DM