By Sihle Mavuso
The ANC national executive committee (NEC) has reconfigured the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial task team (PTT), replacing several members and introducing new leadership.
The changes were announced in Durban on Wednesday by ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula, who said the decision followed a review of the task team appointed in February last year after the provincial executive committee (PEC) was dissolved following the party’s electoral loss to the MK Party.
Last year, Mbalula likened the ANC’s intervention in KwaZulu-Natal to bringing in a “Ferrari” — a top-tier leadership team — which, he said, ended up performing like a “Tazz,” a slower and less reliable vehicle.
As previously reported by Inside Politics, Jeff Radebe has been removed as convenor (the equivalent of provincial chairperson) and replaced by Mike Mabuyakhulu, who has been promoted from coordinator.
Nomusa Dube, the former provincial premier and current deputy Minister of Higher Education under Buti Manamela, has also been removed as deputy convenor.
She has been replaced by Bongi Sithole-Moloi, a former MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), now serving as a backbencher in the provincial legislature after the ANC lost seats to former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party.
The reconfigured PTT includes a newly created position of second provincial convener, which has been assigned to Siboniso Duma, the former provincial chairperson and current MEC for Transport and Human Settlements in the government of provincial unity led by Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) premier Thami Ntuli.
Mbalula said Radebe, described as a party stalwart, would be redeployed to another role to be announced at a later stage.
Mabuyakhulu’s former position has been filled by James Nxumalo, the former eThekwini mayor who lost his post to Zandile Gumede in 2016 and later served as a backbencher in the provincial legislature.
Nxumalo’s deputy will be Siphile Mdaka, mayor of the Umkhanyakude District Municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi (formerly Simelane-Zulu) has retained her role as provincial fundraiser (equivalent to treasurer).
“They will be joined by a streamlined team of PTT members that will take into account geographic spread, gender balance, youth representation, generational mix and organisational discipline,” Mbalula said.
He said the reconfiguration followed a “thorough evaluation” of the province and would be accompanied by a programme of action.
“This provincial task team will be supported by the deployment of NEC members to all regions on a full-time basis, as well as organisers on the ground,” he said.
Mbalula also defended the appointment of Nxumalo, saying his affiliation with the South African Communist Party (SACP) did not preclude his role in the ANC.
He said Communists remain within the ANC, even as the SACP has taken a decision to contest the upcoming Local Government Elections independently.
“James is an ANC member, we are not navigating anything, he is a coordinator of the ANC, and he can still remain as a communist and there is no problem. His dual membership is not in question, if he did not want to take up this position he would have told us that no, I am a red-hot communist, I don’t want to take (up the position),” said Mbalula.
“He is a member of the ANC and communists are allowed in the ANC, so, that the communist party (SACP) is contesting elections does not mean that communists are gone in the African National Congress. It’s a tactical issue, the question of contestation.”
INSIDE POLITICS