The fate of eThekwini municipality mayor Zandile Gumede, who is also the African National Congress’ (ANC) Regional Chairperson, is among the issues expected to be discussed this weekend when the party’s Provincial Executive Council (PEC) meets at eMpangeni in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Last month, Gumede appeared in the Durban Commercial Crimes court on fraud and corruption charges.
She was granted bail of R50 000. Gumede is implicated in a R 208 million 2016 Durban Solid Waste tender.
Another issue on the table is regional conferences that were shelved ahead of the general elections.
Political analyst Xolani Dube believes the divisions in the eThekwini region are largely based on controlling the municipality’s purse strings.
Dube says, ”I don’t think that unity is going to come soon because the eThekwini region has got about R50 billion budget and so when you look how the ANCYL (ANC Youth League) was supporting mama Zandile Gumede with a hope that she will pay back their loyally to her, hence they were asking for one billion for youth development, when she refused to do that the Youth League threw stones at her.”
Days after Gumede’s court appearance, her supporters marched to the ANC provincial offices. They accused Police Minister Bheki Cele of using his position to settle political scores.
Dube blames Cele for what he describes as the mishandling of cases against some politicians.
“Why is he in such a hurry, who he is he trying to impress. No one knows but his eagerness to see people behind bars without tangible evidence is one of the reasons that gives Zandile Gumede some more power , some more credibility. To use that cliché that says government institutions are used for political battles.”
The ANC in the province says it will only issue a full statement on the matter after the PEC meeting scheduled for this weekend.
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