eThekwini could go the way of Gauteng metros, Nzimande warns
SOUTH AFRICA, Saturday 24 September 2016 - 6:01pm
File: Speaking at a Moses Mabhida memorial lecture organised by Cosatu in Pietermaritzburg, Nzimande likened the ANC's KZN elective conference in November last year to a shoot-out between factions that left the ruling party and alliance in KZN divided. Photo: Gallo Images / Thapelo Maphakela
PIETERMARITZBURG - The African National Congress will ultimately lose control of the eThekwini metro municipality to opposition parties if it does not resolve factionalism within the party, South African Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande has warned.
Speaking at a Moses Mabhida memorial lecture organised by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Pietermaritzburg, Nzimande likened the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal provincial elective conference in November last year to a shoot-out between factions that had left the ruling party and alliance divided in the province.
"This is serious problem… This is why we suffered losses in Gauteng [in the August 3 local government elections]. If we do not attend to the problem of factionalism we will in future have a similar problem in eThekwini. We must defeat factionalism," he said.
He called for Cosatu members to work at strengthening party membership and unity with the SACP, adding there was an agenda to drive a wedge between Cosatu and the SACP.
Nzimande claimed there was a plot to undermine the trade union federation and the SACP. Some of the methods included tapping telephone calls.
"We know that conversations of our office bearers are being listened to by people who seek to drive a wedge between Cosatu and the SACP.
They work throughout the night in order to carry out this agenda in the hope that this will create fertile ground for their takeover of the ANC and eventually the state. We know them," he said.
The SACP leader also took a swipe at the politically-connected Gupta family, accusing them of a sense of entitlement, although he did not mention the family by name.
"We have this family that is not from this country whose name will not be mentioned but have been part of a discussion in our political space for such a long time now. They have a sense of entitlement on state resources; we wonder where they got that."
Nzimande said families with a prolific history of involvement in the liberation struggle, such as the Mandelas, Sisulus, Mabhidas, and other families did not demonstrate any form of entitlement for wealth accumulation from the state.
According to Nzimande, the county's trade unions had become weak, making it easy for "capitalists to do as they wish", including trampling on workers' rights.
He also called on SACP and Cosatu members to discuss contesting elections alone in future, indicating that this may not be a bad idea if it would help the ANC regain its strength.
https://www.enca.com/south-africa/ethekwini-could-go-the-way-of-gauteng-...
