KZN ANC is only as united as it needs to be to stay in power

The ANC’s push for unity in KwaZulu-Natal may just be for the upcoming elections, because real unity may not have been achieved there, political analysts say.

Analyst Dumisani Hlophe said the ANC feared losing KwaZulu-Natal, which was why it was desperate to resolve the impasse between the two factions.

There has been a stand-off between two camps, one supporting President Cyril Ramaphosa and the other his former contender for the ANC presidency, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, since before the party’s 54th national conference in December.

The 2015 provincial conference – and the powers of the leaders elected at it – were declared null and void by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg after a challenge from some members. As a result, the provincial executive committee (PEC), led by then former chairperson Sihle Zikalala, could not participate in the December national conference.

The group also refused to recognise the interim provincial task team that replaced the PEC as it was dominated by members of the disbanded PEC. This forced the ANC national executive committee to deploy a dispute resolution committee and NEC members in a bid to reconcile the two sides.

Now, the province is expected to hold an inclusive provincial conference to elect a new PEC that includes members from both camps.

However, previous efforts failed due to a winner-takes-all approach by the Zikalala camp, which is stronger than the scattering of dissatisfied members.

Hlophe said: “It’s a problem to confuse unity with sameness or the absence of conflict. Differences in parties are the inherent nature of politics and KZN is no different.”

He said the longer the KZN issue dragged on, the greater the chances the ANC would lose to the opposition in the 2019 poll.

“That is what worries the ANC leadership; that is why both sides to the conflict are seriously considering the need to explore common ground that would unite them. Secondly, fatigue may have forced the two camps to work together as they are tired of the infighting.”

However, that the Zikalala camp had reached out to the other side did not mean there wouldn’t be disagreement in future.

“One of the two groups may still challenge the outcome of the unity arrangement,” he said.

Another analyst, Zamikhaya Maseti, was more pessimistic.

“I don’t think this united PEC approach will work because ANC conferences are often winner-takes-all. They must accept that the dominant faction will win and run the province. This unity is artificial as the camps are pulling in different directions.”

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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