ANC Bay election exposes cracks

Zuma said the majority of the branches in the metro had spoken and that even the ancestors agreed with Lungisa’s election, which meant the decision had to be accepted. This flies in the face of what ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe had said only hours before in a telephonic interview – that Lungisa would be dealt with through the party’s mechanisms for defying the ANC constitution. He said there was a formula to deal with these matters and that “Lungisa, too, will be dealt with through the same mechanism and I won’t be discussing it with the media”. On Wednesday, Mantashe sent a letter to all provincial structures across the country, reminding them about the constitution, which he said barred any members of the provincial executive committee (PEC) from serving on a lower structure. He instructed that any attempt to resign should not be allowed as it was opportunistic. But Lungisa, a PEC member – who initially agreed to stand down – defied Mantashe’s directive and was elected by 71 votes against the 57 his opponent, Tony Duba, received. This appeared to please Zuma, who said: “When we do things the wrong way the ancestors get angry. That requires elders to take up sticks to find the root cause. The ancestors agree now that Lungisa has been elected. “[Oliver] Tambo introduced a culture of consensus in the ANC. “Many matters are resolved that way ... if the majority has spoken, it has spoken. Ours is to take that decision and make it ours. The ANC is looking at quality leadership, not just people with grey hair to lead.” Turning to ANC provincial deputy chairman Sakhumzi Somyo, Zuma said: “You have brought me joy when you say the delegates have done their work last night, reflecting the will of the ANC of Nelson Mandela Bay.” An elated Lungisa beamed at Zuma’s stamp of approval. The two held a private meeting, which lasted about five minutes, before Zuma headed back to the airport. Zuma’s turning up on the last day of the three-day conference at the ETC conference venue in Zwide, Port Elizabeth, has reinforced speculation by some that Lungisa is part of the group backing Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to succeed Zuma as president of the ANC. With the majority of the branches in the Bay behind Lungisa, it has raised questions about whether or not the ANC in the metro would, in fact, support Dlamini-Zuma at the national elective conference in December. But three insiders, among them Lungisa supporters, said his victory at the weekend did not automatically mean the branches would support Dlamini-Zuma. They said the branches would have to discuss it at length and take a decision when the time came. The former head of the National Youth Development Agency also refused to be drawn into the leadership succession debate, saying the “perspective” of the region had to be developed first.