While the ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal is expected to remain unchanged, some in the party say a battle of the Mchunus might still be on the cards at the elective conference in Newcastle this weekend.
Willies Mchunu, the deputy KZN chairman, could see a challenge from the younger Mchunu, Senzo. They are not related.
The Mercury understands that Senzo, the former KZN ANC secretary, might be nominated from the floor after members in several regions expressed an interest in seeing him take over from Willies.
Senzo’s main source of support appears to come from the North Coast, the region from which he hails. However, regions from the South Coast and even KwaDukuza are also leaning towards him.
The dominant feeling was that the leadership had performed well and should remain in office for another four years.
At the weekend the eThekwini region, the biggest in KZN, threw its support behind the retention of the current leadership.
Yesterday Visvin Reddy, the chairman of the Naidoo Mak-haye zone, who was prepared to go on record, said the KZN leadership had performed well and received many accolades for its performance.
It had successfully increased its membership and brought economic development to the province.
“So it doesn’t make sense for change at a time when the province is leading in the country,” said Reddy.
Proponents of the retention argue that this would shift the attention from the battle for positions, creating an atmosphere conducive to robust debate on policy issues.
“We are in a very enviable position and we are set to have the most peaceful conference with a complete dedication to policy.
“This should focus people on strictly policy positions which should be very good,” said a source.
Key among the debates will be the discussions on organisational review, strategy and tactics and economic freedom.
KwaZulu-Natal needed to solidify its positions around some key policy issues which included some radical proposals taken at the ANC KwaZulu-Natal lekgotla held in Dundee early this year, he said.
For example, the ANC in the province seeks to have the size of the party’s national executive committee slashed from 88 to a “manageable” 66 members.
Arguing for this, the provi- ncial ANC secretary, Sihle Zikalala, said the national executive committee was the highest organ of the ANC.
“Therefore, it should have integrity (and) cadres who interpret organisational policy coherently,” he said.
He suggested that some members of the national executive committee had been “found wanting” when it came to robust ANC policy discussions, making the committee “not manageable”.
Review
The ANC in KZN, with the highest membership of all provinces, constituting 24 percent of the overall party membership, believes that it could push through its proposal at the ANC’s national policy conference.
There would also be robust discussions of the proposed review of the tender system which KZN wanted.
Zikalala said the tender system had been used in many cases to advance corruption.
All the ANC regions would share their positions on policy issues which would be debated, distilled and consolidated in- to resolutions that would be taken to the party’s national policy conference set for June this year and later in the year to the national conference in Mangaung.
