Thapelo Molefe
African National Congress (ANC) Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has refuted claims the party intends disbanding the KZN provincial executive committee but said rather the party wants to strengthen structures in the province and arrest the decline of membership.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the National Working Committee meeting in Durban following the structure’s visit across the province to assess the state of the party in regions, Mbalula said the party was not preoccupied with disbanding the PEC as it has been widely rumored.
The rumor started swirling after the province performed poorly in the province leading to the ANC losing power in the province and forced into “Government of Provincial Unity”.
Mbalula said there was a need for a “deep-stick analysis” in order to understand why there was a great decline in support KZN.
“The pre-occupation here is how we lost and what needs to be done in the province. I cannot comment on disbandment as disbandment is not the preoccupation of our visit. There might be others who wish for that, but you don’t build by disbanding.
“We need a deep-stick analysis to understand why things turned out in that particular way politically. We know what happened, but we need to understand why,” Mbalula said.
Mbalula said this is not the time for squabbling and finger-pointing but time to understand what went wrong and how the party should we reclaim the lost ground.
Mbalula said the committee was focused on strengthening the province’s structures and addressing the depletion of membership rather than disbanding existing structures.
“We need real ANC people who love the organisation to lead the organisation. where there’s depletion, we’ll intervene, and where necessary, we’ll establish new structures,” he said.
Despite the challenges facing the party, Mbalula said the ANC remained optimistic about reclaiming lost ground in the province.
“We’ve lost KZN before, and we came back, we will come back stronger. We’re resolving people’s issues, and as the economy grows, we’ll restore the confidence of the people in the ANC,” he said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday also acknowledged how the poor elections results were a setback for the ANC in the province.
The president welcomed the NEC visit and interacting with ANC structures to conduct a thorough analysis of the party’s performance in the elections. He said the visit was part of a larger process to renew and strengthen the ANC, enabling it to effectively execute its tasks and serve the interests of the people of South Africa.
The president said the committee engaged with leadership at provincial, regional, and branch levels which focused on revitalizing branches, increasing activism, and enthusiasm, ensuring the entire organization works in unison with other components of the Government of National Unity.
“We now have a great opportunity to do so working together with others in the Government of National Unity. There is a great deal of enthusiasm, even at that level,” he said.
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