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Durban - The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said on Tuesday it had taken a decision to tighten existing disciplinary processes and that any ANC member found disrupting an ANC gathering would be subjected to stringent disciplinary actions.
In a statement sent by the Provincial Executive Committee, the party did not mince its words, saying “it was disgusted in the manner in which some [of its] members behaved during what was supposed to be the sixth eThekwini regional conference in Durban”.
On Saturday, News24 reported that more than 400 voting delegates were expected to elect new leadership for the highly-contested position of KwaZulu-Natal regional chairperson.
The conference was brought to an abrupt end and had to be adjourned when unruly members continuously disrupted the proceedings.
The conference was scheduled to convene for the fourth time. The first two sittings were postponed and the third one, which was held in February, was declared null and void in March after aggrieved members disputed the outcome.
EThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo won by 253 votes and his opponent, eThekwini councillor Zandile Gumede, got 212 votes. Shortly after the conference, it emerged that three branches had participated in the elections despite having failed their audit.
On Saturday, some ANC members continuously disrupted ANC provincial chairperson Senzo Mchunu as he delivered his speech. Members came in chanting “37 awukho la, asiphelelanga" (Ward 37 is not here, we are underrepresented) and “Senzeni na, Senzo Mchunu?"(What have we done, Senzo Mchunu?)
‘Ugly situation’
“The disruption of the conference and ill-discipline shown by some comrades was worrying and needed to be dealt with urgently. This ugly situation resulted in the conference being adjourned until it is reconvened by the leadership.
“As part of preparations for the reconvening of the conference, the leadership will hold a meeting with all branches of the eThekwini region to engage them politically on issues of unity and cohesion,” said ANC provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala.
He said, to ensure discipline, the organisation had taken a decision to tighten the existing disciplinary processes with any member found to be disrupting an ANC gathering to be subjected to stringent disciplinary actions.
“The PWC [Provincial Working Committee] will further embark on the programme of intensive training of regional officials in all regions on running the organisation effectively,” said Zikalala.
On Saturday, Zikalala explained to the media that members argued and complained about the non-participation of ward 37.
"The problem is they did not elect their delegates at the Branch General Meeting. The Branch General Meeting delegated the Branch Executive Committee to elect the delegates so we felt that those delegates elected were not constitutionally recognised," explained Zikalala on Saturday.
The PEC on Tuesday also condemned the recent spate of attacks on foreign nationals.
