The front façade of a building showing the ANC’s logo and the building’s name The ANC’s headquarters in KwaZulu-Natal. The party has taken the decision to reconfigure the provincial leadership. File Picture: Independent Newspapers
While the ANC’s alliance partners in KwaZulu-Natal have welcomed the move to reconfigure the party’s provincial leadership, ordinary members questioned what the decision would entail saying it was “confusing”.
The SACP expressed its eagerness to work with the “new structure” to implement strategies for the development of the province, while Cosatu said that it had long called for the national structure to intervene.
However, some members of the party feel that the announcement fell short of their expectations.
The ANC and its alliance partners have had a fraught relationship in recent months, with alliance partners publicly accusing the ANC of failing to meet with them, thereby undermining the alliance.
An ANC national spokesperson told a television news channel that the reconfiguration will alter the current status quo in terms of leadership but said it would not be possible to outline which positions in leadership could be affected.
The decision came after an ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the weekend.
SACP leader in KZN, Themba Mthembu, said: “Something had to be done to arrest the decline in the province, and we welcome this decision by the ANC national leadership to address the provincial leadership. There have been tensions between the alliance partners, and the source of those tensions has been viewed to be the ANC.”
Edwin Mkhize, of Cosatu in KZN, said: “We welcome and appreciate the intervention of the national leadership in the matters of KwaZulu-Natal.”
A member of the ANC in the Moses Mabhida region said they had been summoned to a meeting yesterday afternoon where they expected to gain clarity on the intervention.
“Members on the ground are confused; the statement was very confusing. Many of the members were hoping for the disbandment,” he said.
Another ordinary member of the ANC said: “I have long been calling for an intervention (disbandment). This intervention does not guarantee that things will improve; we have no idea who will be deployed. You will find older people are deployed because they will be less conflicted, but the downside is that we could end up with those elderly people in Parliament.”
A source with close ties to ANC leaders in the province indicated that tensions were high within the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC).
“As for acceptance or rejection, it will depend on how the situation is managed. There could be elements rejecting the initiative of the NEC by subtly undermining the augmented structure, knowing that it is interim,” said the source. “Remember also that the PEC is extremely divided. These leaders in this camp may try to influence those branches and regions that still take them seriously.”
Professor Musa Xulu, cultural expert and socio-political analyst, said the ANC seemed to be treating the issue with urgency, considering that the impact of the MK Party may continue to be felt even in the 2026 local government elections and beyond.
“Everyone is mindful of how the ANC in the Western Cape was negatively impacted by the DA and has not been able to make an electoral comeback for nearly 20 years.”
He suggested that the ANC was more likely to suspend (not dissolve) the PECs and confine them to working only with the past leaders the ANC will announce next week.
“At the extreme, some individuals like Sibusiso Ndebele in the case of KZN and Tokyo Sexwale in the case of Gauteng may be roped in to take on more visible leadership positions until all the structures are in place. This would then be followed by internal elections. However, those who are in government will not be suspended from their government portfolios,” he said.
The ANC in KZN declined to comment, citing a directive from the national office that bars them from commenting on the matter.
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