ANC NEC member David Mahlobo. Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers.
Durban — ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member David Mahlobo, among high-ranking leaders tasked with nursing the party back to health in KwaZulu-Natal, has labelled factionalism as the reason for the party’s poor election showing in the province.
In an interview with the Daily News, Mahlobo said: “Among the things we have noticed here is the high level of factionalism. Some comrades want to align themselves with individuals rather than the organisation. This has led to the party breaking up in many parts, hence the decline we have witnessed.”
Mahlobo, the minister of intelligence during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure, warned that unless the party rid itself of factionalism, “it is on a downslope to disaster”.
“I agree the ANC is a broad church with different views and ideologies. But this is the time we unite against the enemy,” he told the Daily News.
Among those set to lead the revival process were the head of the ANC presidency Sibongile Besane, former KZN premier Sbu Ndebele, and former deputy ANC chairperson in KZN, Mike Mabuyakhulu.
The ANC NEC resolved early last month that all the provinces that dropped below 40% of the vote must account for their mediocre performance in the May 29 national elections.
KwaZulu-Natal, the party’s former stronghold, was among them after dramatically plummeting from 54% to 17% of the vote during the elections. However, the party is still part of the provincial government by virtue of being a member of the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) alongside the DA, IFP and the NFP.
Reacting to their fall from grace, Mahlobo said: “We are an organisation that learns from its mistakes. We will go to every branch and try to find out where we went wrong so that we rectify that and revive our organisation.”
Looking ahead to the local government elections in 2026, Mahlobo said: “We don’t want a repeat of what happened during the national elections. That is why the NEC deployed us here (KZN). We will fight to revive the party and ensure we regain our position as the leader of society.”
Provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo was also optimistic that the party would woo back voters, including those who voted for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) led by former ANC and South African president Jacob Zuma.
“We will win back our votes because people will see in the coming years that the ANC remains the only vehicle that they can use to attain true freedom,” said Mtolo.
Zuma’s MKP won 37 of the 80 seats in the KZN legislature and 58 in the 400-member National Assembly.
Mtolo recently said the ANC would go back to grassroots level to hear from the people where it went wrong and why they snubbed the party at the polls.
He said: “Our branches have become weak due to long-term infighting and gate-keeping. We will audit each branch to identify problems and fix them.”
Nationally, the ANC also dropped from 57% to 40% during the May elections, which saw the party forming the Government of National Unity with other parties, including the DA.
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