The new ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal has dismissed speculation about a possible provincial cabinet reshuffle ahead of next year’s general elections amid fears such a move might further divide the party.

There have been reports of a possible provincial government shake-up following the successful ANC’s 8th provincial conference but newly-elected provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli squashed these on Wednesday saying there was no such thing.

“There will be no cabinet reshuffle. We have not discussed that issue. Secondly‚ we are now nine months into the elections. Let’s assume that there is an MEC who is not performing well. If we were to pause for a second and assume that somebody is not doing his or her job very well.

“What would be the interest of the ANC nine months before the elections because you can’t change budget‚ some of the programmes can’t be altered anymore. So if you put a new MEC it will simply be a replacement of one individual by another which may not have any impetus in terms of changing the direction of the department and the priorities of our movement.”

Ntuli said cabinet reshuffles also had a tendency to divide the ANC and their focus in the province was to unite the organisation‚ which has been deeply divided along pro-president Cyril Ramaphosa and pro-former president Jacob Zuma lines.

“So in our view it would be unthinkable that we can engage in any discussion that is intending to do cabinet reshuffling in the province because the time is against us and you will very well recall that cabinet reshuffles have their own tendencies of producing tensions in the movement. We’re normalising the ANC in the province. We want to lead a machinery that is focused on one direction‚ we want a machinery that is distracted by any decisions taken by the movement‚” said Ntuli.

The ANC Youth League in the province had already said it won’t support any changes to the provincial government ahead of next year’s elections.

“Those comrades‚ those MECs who are there are comrades. They are members of the African National Congress. It can’t be that because some of them did not get elected they are now lesser members of the ANC‚” said the league’s secretary‚ Thanduxolo Sabela‚ who is vying to become the national youth league president.

Ntuli said the ANC provincial executive committee has identified the upcoming elections as one of the most critical and urgent tasks facing the organisation.

“During the next two months the PEC will strengthen the ANC elections machinery at all levels so that we confront elections with a solid and highly motivated elections machinery across the province‚” he said.

The ANC in the province will also be conducting a detailed analysis and assessment on the state of the ANC-led municipalities and government departments.

This assessment‚ said Ntuli‚ will ensure that all municipalities are focused on their primary tasks and for the ANC leadership to intervene where there are challenges.

“All deployed cadres of the movement have an obligation not only to serve our people wholeheartedly‚ but also to excel in the course of their work. Building a caring society starts with a capable‚ inspiring and caring public service at all levels of government‚” he said.