THE ANC appears to have secretly paused the anticipated reconfiguration of the Provincial Executive Committees (PECs) in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) amid the conflict views of the party’s top leaders.
According to sources within the ANC, plans for these critical changes have been suspended, a move that could have wide-ranging implications for the party’s operations in South Africa’s political heartlands.
This comes almost three weeks after the ANC's national executive committee (NEC) resolved to reconfigure the two PECs and committed to reveal the names of senior leaders in each province that would replace the existing structures.
According to ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane, speaking to the media while visiting KZN recently, the party leadership has shifted its focus to more pressing issues, including the killing of South African soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and disagreements within the Government of National Unity (GNU).
“We have other pressing issues that require our attention at this point,” Mokonyane said during a recent visit to Pietermaritzburg.
“The reconfiguration of the PECs in Gauteng and KZN is no longer a priority for us,” Mokonyane said.
The decision to reconfigure the two PECs was taken after the ANC performed poorly in last year's general elections. In KZN, the party's support dropped from 54% to 17%, while in Gauteng, it declined from 50% to 37%.
Poor service delivery and the formation of former president Jacob Zuma's MK Party were cited as major contributing factors to the ANC's poor performance.
However, Mokonyane believes that the KZN province has “turned over a new leaf” since the May elections, citing recent wins in by-elections.
“We are upbeat about the state of the party in KZN,” Mokonyane said.
“We have seen significant improvements in recent by-elections, and we believe that the province is on the right track.”
The ANC's secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, had initially promised that the top seven national leadership structure's decision on the reconfiguration would have been announced by now.
However, the decision was not communicated to either the affected provinces or the media.
The ANC's national leadership has been criticised for its handling of the reconfiguration process. Some party members have accused the leadership of being indecisive and lacking a clear strategy for reviving the party's fortunes.
Mbalula has since said the process was still ongoing and that nothing had changed.
However, a source close to Luthuli House, the ANC’s Headquarters, said there were political dynamics behind the reconfiguration of both provinces.
“You must remember municipal elections are around the corner and the leaders of the two provinces have a lot of support. It's not easy to just let them go. This is just plain politics and in-fighting for power,” the source revealed.
Although he could not elaborate, he said there was a matter discussed among the ANC senior members involving some of the Gauteng members suspected to be aligned to Zuma.
“There is talk in the corridors that Zuma has infiltrated the Gauteng ANC leadership…so that is why Mbalula has come out guns blazing,” he said.
Mbalula could not be drawn to comment on the matter.
Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said, during an interview on national television, that if the ANC interfered with the two provinces it may backfire on the national leadership.
“The ANC is being inconsistent because in 2006 the ANC started experiencing a huge decline…and then spoke about collective responsibility. But now all of a sudden they are singling out two provinces…Its a miscalculation to disband these two provinces because people like Panyaza (Lesufi) will be emboldened in a sense that they will go to the branches and mobilise against the national leadership,” Breakfast said.
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