ANC wants to rekindle relations with Indian community: Bhengu-Motsiri

The ANC seeks to rekindle its relationship with progressives in the Indian community and other minorities to bridge a disconnect that is troubling the party.

This is according to ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri. 

Bhengu-Motsiri was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting held between ANC national leaders and party officials from KwaZulu-Natal in Durban on Wednesday. 

She said the governing party was interested in appealing to the hearts and minds of Indian people inKZN and elsewhere in the country. 

“The issue that is being flagged by nationals is the need for the ANC to reconnect with all cultural and linguistic communities in the province — the ANC has always enjoyed a strong relationship with the Indian community in this province. 

“We are interested in a dedicated focus on how we rekindle our relationships with progressives who are part of the Indian community, the same goes for other national groups — those are some of the things we are looking at,” she explained.

Asked if the “rekindling” was an election strategy precisely for KZN, she said the ANC is reminded to squash any sense of disconnect from history as far as the representation of all groups goes.

“Of course, any other party that is in an election does look to different constituencies, so I am not going to sit here and say we are not thinking about the elections, but this is not the sole purpose,” she added. 

As far as a coalition with the DA is concerned, she reiterated that no such talks with the DA are taking place. “We are on record saying we are going into this election to win and that we are not ruling out principled coalition talks, and we still stand by that. However, we have no such discussion with the DA taking place,” Bhengu-Motsiri added.

The latest ANC tour in KZN is to deliberate and look at the state of the organisation since the first visit in May, as well as a follow-up to look at the recommendations made to strengthen the organisation and commitment to them.

Organisationally, Bhengu-Motsiri said the ANC was satisfied with work being done to revive youth structures, to unify the women's league and to resuscitate election structures across regions. 

She also expressed relief at the halting of challenges in delivering the school nutrition programme and praised minister Senzo Mchunu for his commitment to solving the province’s challenges of accessing water. 

The meeting continues.

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