Zuma factor at play: Unfair to blame KZN leaders for ANC’s poor performance

It would be wrong of the ANC to punish the party’s KwaZulu-Natal leadership for their poor performance because it’s the Jacob Zuma factor that defeated the ANC in the province.

This was the view of University of KwaZulu-Natal politics lecturer Zakhele Ndlovu, who said Luthuli House should not make the party’s provincial executive committee a scapegoat for the ANC’s failure.

He said the ANC performed poorly countrywide and that should not be blamed on one structure, but the entire organisation.

ANC performed poorly countrywide

Ndlovu’s statement was in reaction to Luthuli House’s decision to summon the ANC’s KZN provincial executive committee (PEC) to Johannesburg to answer for the province’s 17% showing in the 29 May national and provincial elections.

The ANC was trounced by both Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party (MKP), which received 45% of the vote, and Inkatha Freedom Party, that obtained 18% followed by the ANC (17%) and DA (13%). The ANC lost power in the province, which it had governed since 2004.

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The province is governed by a government of provincial unity comprising IFP, ANC, DA and National Freedom Party.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula invited the entire ANC PEC to appear before the party’s national working committee in Boksburg today. It is unusual for the whole PEC to be summoned and it has been speculated that the structure will be disbanded and replaced with an interim provincial task team.

However, while Ndlovu castigated Luthuli House, he criticised party provincial chairperson Siboniso Duma and provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo for displaying immature leadership styles.

Immature leadership styles

He cited an event when Duma abruptly grabbed the microphone from IFP MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs Thulasizwe Buthelezi after he indirectly criticised the ANC.

Mtolo also had a public spat with Zuma that some believed was unnecessary.

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“Those guys come across as being very immature, especially the secretary because he is someone who speaks without putting any thinking to it. He is very reckless, he displays immaturity.

“Same with the chairperson, Duma, who has done some things that make you wonder if he is competent to be a leader.

“Having said that, I think it should be wrong for the ANC leadership to disband the KZN PEC now. It is too late and I think it’s going to cause further divisions. Also, you can’t blame the PEC for the dismal performance of the ANC in KZN because Zuma is just too powerful in KZN.

‘Can’t blame PEC for dismal performance’

“He enjoys so much support and he plays the ethnic and victimhood cards very well. You will find that there are a lot of people who sympathise with Zuma who believe that he is being persecuted,” Ndlovu said.

The analyst said the July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal was a demonstration that Zuma was hero-worshipped and many believed he was being persecuted.

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“He knew that he was popular and people loved him and he exploited that,” he said.

The PEC was being made a scapegoat because even in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, Zuma’s MKP performed well in the May election, not just in KZN.

PEC a scapegoat even in Gauteng and Mpumalanga

It would be unwise of Ramaphosa and the party top brass national executive committee to single out the KZN PEC because even the NEC themselves had not done well.

“I don’t think that it will be a smart move to disband the KZN PEC. The ANC is divided and to dissolve the structure and to pick on KZN could have unintended consequences,” Ndlovu said.