Senior African National Congress member Candith Mashego has commended the emphasis on unity among delegates at all four party regional conferences held in KwaZulu-Natal this weekend.
She was speaking on the sideline of the iNkosi Bhambatha regional conference held in Dundee in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Three other regional conferences were also held in the province’s Far North, eMalahleni and Musa Dladla regions.
Mashego says the outcomes of all four regional conferences were accepted by all delegates.
“But what was good in this province in all these regional conferences is that these choices were put on the table; everybody voted for it and they accepted the outcomes. So to us it is the step towards unity because when you are not united it becomes a problem to accept whether these one have won and so on.
“But as NEC we have declared war against factionalism. We have declared war for people to form groupings under the name of the organisation. We still have to really make sure that we help these REC’s to make sure that they lead everybody.”
The ANC NEC says factions which threaten to destabilise the party especially in KwaZulu-Natal need to be eliminated. That’s the message from party leaders deployed to KZN to oversee the regional conferences.
Difficult circumstances paved the way to these regional conferences. The ANC in KZN remains in a fragile state. Attacks and the killing of political leaders have cast a shadow over the province.
Some members had raised objections and called for the conferences to be postponed.
Despite concerns, the conferences sat peacefully. Leaders say the results of all four regions have been accepted. But the internal squabbles in the party is far from over.
The Inkosi Bambatha region is one where the ANC struggled to gain support. It only controls one of four municipalities in the region.
Last year it suffered a major loss when it failed to win the Nqutu municipality. Provincial leaders say forging unity in the province is important. If not, the party may suffer in next year’s elections.
The remaining four regions are expected to hold their conferences next week.
The party’s top six led by President Cyril Ramaphosa will visit the province on Monday.
