Former Police Minister Bheki Cele may make a return to an ANC leadership position.
Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
Former police minister Bheki Cele could be set for another political come-back into ANC leadership structures, as he is being tipped to be the new convener of the ANC eThekwini region.
Sources in the party have told The Mercury that Cele will be appointed as convener, former ANC Youth League leader Thanduxolo Sabelo will be appointed as coordinator, and other names include a current deputy minister, a former MEC, and a senior councillor in eThekwini. The ANC is expected to change its task team in the different regions this week. This past week, senior leaders of the ANC held meetings with party officials in different parts of the province.
Cele engaged members of the ANC in Durban on Sunday, while another ANC meeting was held at the Moses Mabhida region in Msunduzi.
Party members revealed that the process to rebuild party structures is now on hold, as the ANC will hold no conferences to elect new structures until after the local government elections expected later this year. They said the cut-off date for structures to finalise their conferences was April 1, and any structure that was not ready will have to wait until after the election. A source in the ANC in eThekwini spoke of this new Regional Task Team (RTT) development, pointing out that there was still a lot of paranoia in the party.
“Many of the people that are in the structure are supporters of the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, or could support a presidential bid by Patrice Motsepe. That is how this proposed RTT looks to be shaped,” said the source. Speaking on the manner in which the proposed RTT will be structured, ANC sources said it seemed there was still a lot of fear and mistrust in the party that there could be secret MKP members within the organisation.
Cele denied any knowledge of the speculated deployment.
“No, no, no, I have not heard anything about that; no one has said anything official to me. I just heard from the grapevine like you.” Sabelo said the ANC processes are still unfolding.
“The ANC processes are not complete. No member has been assigned any responsibility as yet. But if I am given any responsibility, I am willing and able to do my best in achieving the given responsibilities.”
In the Moses Mabhida region, party members said they expected a wholesale change. “I believe the only person who is expected to be retained is Zet Luzipho. I do not believe any of the others are coming back, but that is speculation at the moment,” said the member. One member, when asked about the process of rebuilding the party branches, said, “We will see that after the elections.”
Another member also stated that the rebuilding of structures was on hold until after the elections, saying, “I can tell you now that there will be no conferences until after the elections. The RTT structure that is being brought in will be dealt with during the election work.” The spokesperson for the ANC KZN Provincial Task Team, Fanle Sibisi, said the party had nothing to say on the matter.
Speaking on the RTT changes, he said, “In the media briefing by the Secretary General of the ANC, Fikile Mbalula, last week, the SG said the issue will be addressed before the end of this week.” Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said going to elections with task teams was not the right approach, as many ANC branches are “confused”.
“Since the emergence of the MKP, the ANC in this province is dead and buried. If they want to revive it, they need to rebuild from the ground up and ensure they have strong branches. At the moment, their branches are confused. When branch members are with the ANC, they speak an ANC language; whether they are with the MKP, they speak MKP language. How can you take such branches to an election?”
Professor Musa Xulu said task teams, in their nature, look and sound temporary, and even give impressions of instability.
“The ANC may face challenges on the ground if it campaigns through task teams, which the public may see as temporary and project the ANC as being unstable. Elected structures are, by far, a better option as they instil confidence in the voters.” Speaking on the possibility of Cele returning, he said he would face a difficult task on different fronts.
“Although he is a very charismatic person, he may equally be divisive as factions will continue to dig their heels in. The Zandile Gumede faction is very strong in eThekwini.”
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