'Mchunu right to back Ramaphosa for ANC president‚ it's tradition'

Supporters of former KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu say he has every right to pronounce on his preferred candidate for the ANC presidency‚ adding that the provincial ANC leadership was wrong to reprimand him.

In an interview last week‚ Mchunu said he wanted Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed President Jacob Zuma and that the party needed to “change direction“. The provincial ANC leadership then blasted Mchunu‚ calling him an “attention seeker” who sought to undermine the party’s structures.

Mchunu‚ however‚ says he stands by his statement‚ telling the Business Day on Sunday that he did not “want to comment further on this matter to avoid unnecessary public spat“.

Sifiso Dlamini‚ coordinator of the Umlazi ANC sub-region‚ said the provincial executive committee (PEC) was biased because it had kept mum when other ANC structures‚ such as the ANC Women’s League and the ANC Youth League in the province‚ voiced their support for outgoing African Union chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the ANC presidency.

“We don’t understand why the PEC have to be harsh and personal when dealing with former premier Mchunu when they are quiet on other structures. We don’t know what they want from him. It is the same PEC whose legitimacy is under question and would soon be determined by the courts of law.

“The ANC NEC [national executive committee] has told us to stop making public pronouncements on the succession debate. But when the time is right we will say what comrade Mchunu has said because we believe that ANC tradition dictates that the ANC deputy president becomes the president if he is in good standing and is capable of leading the organisation. Even President Jacob Zuma benefited from this principle‚” he said.

Mchunu was forced by the ANC provincial leadership to resign as premier after losing the party provincial chairmanship to current chair Sihle Zikalala.

After his defeat supporters marched to the provincial ANC headquarters in Durban‚ claiming that the vote had been rigged and calling on the NEC to nullify the result of the provincial conference. Some of these supporters have since approached the courts to have these results nullified.

ANC provincial spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli was not available for comment on Sunday.