Silenced by Luthuli house? KZN ANC secretary mum on NEC’s reconfiguration mandate

The provincial secretary of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has refused to comment on the reconfiguration process that the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has imposed on the province.

On Wednesday, provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo held a press briefing alongside other tripartite alliance partners in Durban.

However, he avoided speaking about the reconfiguration process.

The Citizen asked him about his views of the process, but he declined to comment.

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Was Mtolo gagged?

On Wednesday, IOL reported that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula had sent a letter to the province informing them not to interact with the media about the reconfiguration process.

Gauteng is reportedly also undergoing the same reconfiguration process.

The ANC said it had to place these two provinces under this reconfiguration process to save them from deterioration.

Both performed poorly in the 2024 general elections, with Gauteng receiving 34% of the vote and KZN receiving 17%.

On Monday, Mbalula recommended that all party rallies and activities in these two provinces should stop while reconfiguration is underway.

The Citizen contacted Gauteng ANC spokesperson Lesego Makhubela to comment on the reconfiguration. However, there has been no reply.

Meanwhile, the province issued a media invitation to a press briefing on governance issues, including back-to-school. This is expected to take place on Thursday, 23 January.

The Citizen also contacted ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri to verify whether the two provinces had been barred from discussing the reconfiguration.

However, no comment was received at the time this article was published.

Pushback from Gauteng and KZN

Sanet Solomon, a political analyst from the University of South Africa (Unisa), said the reconfiguration process would cause problems in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

“This could result in removing provincial executive committee (PEC) members and replacing them with less popular leaders that toe the party line.”

Solomon said removing popular leaders with large constituencies could result in factional battles that will make their voices heard at the ANC 2027 elective conference.

Prof. Ntsikelelo Breakfast, a political analyst from the Nelson Mandela University (NMU), told The Citizen that the two disgruntled provinces could use the ANC’s upcoming National General Council (NGC) to overturn the reconfiguration decision.

In the past, the NGC made major decisions that affected the government and leadership of the ANC.

“The upcoming NGC will become a war zone, and those who win will take over the ANC,” he said.

Breakfast said it was clear that there was some pushback behind the scenes from the two provinces.

He also questioned the selection of the two provinces for reconfiguration, even though other provinces had also performed badly in the elections.

“The whole thing was not done in good faith,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mbalula had announced that the two provinces would be briefed about how this process would work next week.

However, he said the national leadership will “tamper” with the current Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) structure.

Mbalula has denied that the two provinces were being victimised. Nevertheless, they were not the only ones that performed poorly at the polls last year.

ALSO READ: Reconfiguration of KZN ANC could spark battles