Blow for Mkhize faction as Dlamini-Zuma joins race for ANC leadership

The ANC faction in KwaZulu-Natal which wants former health minister, Zweli Mkhize, to contest a position within the party’s top leadership structure, has been thrown into disarray after it emerged that another top politician from the province — Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, will also be contesting.

Dlamini-Zuma, who is the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), in the previous ANC national elective conference lost to President Cyril Ramaphosa in the race for the party presidency.

Her supporters have confirmed that she will contest for the same position during the upcoming ANC national conference scheduled for December.

The announcement of Dlamini-Zuma’s candidacy happens at a time when several branches in the province were rallying behind Mkhize — who has significant support in key ANC regions such as Moses Mabhida and eThekwini.

Some of Mkhize’s key supporters in the province on Sunday told The Witness that revelations that Dlamini-Zuma would make herself available to contest for the ANC top position caught them by surprise.

An ANC leader in KZN said:

Frankly speaking, I don’t know what the implications would be for comrade Zweli’s support network. My hope is that her [Dlamini-Zuma’s] decision would not divide the province ahead of the national conference.

In 2017 both Mkhize and Dlamini-Zuma, who hails from Bulwer, were unsuccessful in their campaigns — with political analysts attributing their failure to the fact that their campaigns split the KZN vote.

Mkhize, whose branch is in Willowfontein in Pietermaritzburg, last year resigned from Ramaphosa’s cabinet after being implicated in the Digital Vibes scandal where the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) accused him of wrongdoing in the awarding of a lucrative Health Department tender to a company allegedly linked to his close associates.

Dlamini-Zuma campaigner speaks

While Dlamini-Zuma’s ANC leadership race entrance has created fears that history could repeat itself in December, Mkhize’s key campaigner, Sibusiso Mkhize, said the former health minister’s campaign has reached an advanced stage and that “nothing will derail it”.

It’s absolutely not true that the recent announcement around comrade NDZ [Dlamini-Zuma] has created problems for our programme. We remain resolute that comrade Zweli is the only solution to the current challenges faced by the ANC. If you check his track record you will realise that he is a leader who helped the ANC navigate through a number of obstacles, particularly here in KZN. He is a tried and tested leader.

While it previously has not been clear as to which position Mkhize would contest at the ANC December national conference, Sibusiso Mkhize — who is also an ANC branch chairperson in the Moses Mabhida region — said the former Health minister’s supporters want him to contest the party’s highest position.

“They are unanimous in their view that he should go for the presidency,” he said.

There have been rumours that members of the provincial ANC top leadership structure have already endorsed Dlamini-Zuma.

However, ANC provincial spokesperson, Mafika Mndebele, on Sunday dismissed the rumours.

The decision on who should be candidates at the upcoming national conference is that of the ANC branches. Once the branches have concluded the nomination processes, the candidates who have been endorsed by the majority of the branches then becomes the PEC’s preferred candidates.

This article was originally posted on The Witness.