Durban — The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) says Jacob Zuma’s withdrawal of voter support from the ANC will affect all political parties as they are going to suffer from the number of supporters moving to the newly-formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK).
The organisation’s leaders raised their concerns at a media briefing held in Durban on Wednesday, which aimed to look into the issues of ANC KZN leadership and the former president, who surprised South Africans by announcing that he was not going to be voting for the ANC next year.
Sanco treasurer Sabatha Mzimela said the presence of Zuma in KwaZulu-Natal was felt by the ANC supporters who believed in his leadership.
“We all noticed that when Msholozi (Zuma) was under attack politically, that is where the parties gained strength. A number of people left the ANC and went back to the IFP while some decided to stop participating in the elections. This clearly indicates how dangerous it is to Zuma and each and every political leader is shaking,” said Mzimela.
Zuma was elected in absentia as the chairperson of Sanco in January because its members believed that he would play a crucial role in performing the organisation’s duties through his vast knowledge of the province’s struggles.
Sanco secretary Sizwe Cele said that the organisation did not blame Zuma for lending voter support to a new party because he had his concerns, which he addressed to Sanco.
“Zuma did consult us about not being happy with the ANC and when he made an announcement on December 16, we already knew about his plans,” said Cele.
He said the organisation was not initiated to please the ANC but its mandate is to serve the poor majority of KwaZulu-Natal and hold the governing party to account.
“The leadership of the ANC in KZN must answer for anyone leaving the party. If not, they should follow them because we won’t tolerate their carelessness. Their behaviour will inconvenience the party’s victory if the leaders are slothful,” said Cele.
“We call upon Luthuli House to take over the running of the 2024 elections programme because it is now clear that the load is bigger than the leadership can handle. If not, the Luthuli House must provide close supervision to KZN province because we don’t want to find ourselves complaining after hiccups because we will fail to solve problems within the party while the number of people leaving rises,” said Cele.
He also raised concerns about ANC KZN secretary Bheki Mtolo and chairperson Siboniso Duma’s bullying tactics, which he said were destroying the party and its reputation.
ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said that they noted Sanco’s comments but would not be responding.
Meanwhile, the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal has warned its voters against being deceived by the return of former president Jacob Zuma into active politics via the newly registered Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
IFP provincial chairperson Thami Ntuli said THAT Zuma was not capable of addressing the challenges of the people of the province but would create expectations which he failed to fulfil while he had been state president.
Ntuli said Zuma had lost his charm for voters, even in Nkandla. His home town and ward were governed by the IFP.
“People are now aware that things got worse when he was the president and there is nothing new that he would give the people of KZN.
“We are making a call to the people of KwaZulu-Natal that they must not be taken in by the wave of the formation of this new political party because voting is about their lives and not about an individual or a particular political party,” said Ntuli.
Zuma announced last week that he was going to remain a member of the ANC but would campaign and vote for the MK party in next year’s general elections.
His daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who addressed the media on his behalf at the briefing, could not be reached for a response to Ntuli’s statement.
Former ANC activist Nkosentsha Shezi, who worked closely with Zuma and has since joined the EFF, said there was a strong possibility that MK would attract votes from the IFP and NFP.
“Unfortunately, the IFP will be one of the casualties since it is facing internal squabbles and still trying to find its identity after the death of Prince Buthelezi. While we would be trying to bury the ANC, there would be other casualties along the way. We don’t even have to mention the NFP,” said Shezi.
Shezi believed that MK should join “other progressive forces” such as the EFF, Black First Land First (BLF) and former ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s African Congress for Transformation (Act).
Political analyst Sakhile Hadebe from the University of KwaZulu-Natal said Zuma’s move would change the political landscape of KZN.
“The ANC is most vulnerable because there is no one to move from EFF and DA to join MK, people would mostly come from the ANC. There are many IFP supporters who voted for the ANC because Zuma was there.”
NFP secretary-general Canaan Mdletshe said his party had nothing to fear because it was like-minded with Zuma’s party in terms of the pro-black economic policies, including the land issue.
“There might be people in the ANC and IFP who would say we would rather go with the old man (Zuma),” he said.
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