First woman leader for ANC in eThekwini

ZANDILE Gumede was elected to lead eThekwini, the ANC’s largest region, at the party’s regional elective conference at the weekend.

Speaking after her election, where Gumede, the first woman to head the ANC’s eThekwini region, was elected over mayor James Nxumalo by 283 votes to one, Gumede said the ANC needed to foster unity and urged supporters to do just this. She said under her leadership, Nxumalo, who is a fierce rival, would not be made an outcast.

This was the party’s fifth attempt at holding the conference, and it was preceded on Saturday by an unsuccessful Durban High Court application, filed by a supporter of Nxumalo, to prevent it from going ahead. The court however ruled that the matter was not urgent and issues could be resolved at the conference. Only 72 branches passed the audits for Saturday’s conference, which was allegedly boycotted by a further 21 or 22 branches.

At the conference, Gumede said the party would ‘pull the strings’ as to how the city’s resources of about R40 billion a year would be distributed and detailed how she planned to get rid of unnecessary tender processes, eradicate transit camps and fast-track the city’s economic distribution. Gumede added that she would turn her attention on city administration and said new leadership would focus on service provision issues. She said it was important to direct and guide the integrated development planning processes, the annual budget and other strategic programmes in the pursuit for a better life for all citizens.

At the conference, Legua Mapena was elected deputy chairperson, Bheki Ntuli was elected secretary, Mondli Mthembu was elected deputy secretary and Barbara Fortuin was elected treasurer.