High noon for the ANC
A high court judgment in KwaZulu Natal has placed Jacob Zuma’s faction on the back foot. With political tensions already rising in the volatile province, expect a huge fight ahead of the December conference
The ground shifted beneath the ANC’s feet this week as the provincial conference of its largest and most influential province, KwaZulu Natal, was declared illegal. Simply put, this means the 2015 election of the pro-Jacob Zuma provincial executive committee (PEC) was set aside. This PEC was led by chairman Sihle Zikalala, a Zuma ally and a key backer of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the ANC’s succession race. By virtue of the judgment, he is no longer the ANC’s provincial chairman. The ANC in KwaZulu Natal has already indicated that it will appeal the judgment. This will take place on Thursday. On Tuesday night, the now illegal PEC held an emergency meeting. On Wednesday, it was expected to meet the ANC’s top six officials for guidance on the way forward. There are no guarantees that the province will be able to have the judgment overturned on appeal. The judgment was a scathing indictment of how easily internal democracy in the ANC is being manipulated to obtain outcomes that are contr...
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