ANC regions in KZN to elect new leaders
2011-08-10 17:00
Durban - Eleven ANC regions in KwaZulu-Natal will elect new leaders between August and November this year, the party said.
The first elective conference would be held in the Lower South Coast at the end of August, African National Congress provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala said on Wednesday.
Elective conferences in the ANC are held every two years for branches, every three years for regional, every four years for provincial and every five years for national leaderships.
Acting ANC chairperson in the powerful eThekwini region, which incorporates the city of Durban, Stanley Xulu, said their conference would be held on October 15 or 16.
Political analyst Velaphi Ndlovu said the regional conferences would determine the outcome of elections at the ruling party’s elective conference next year. ANC regional leaders had played a significant role in getting President Jacob Zuma elected ANC president in 2007.
"What we have seen in the past is that people who get elected in these conferences become very influential. Regional conferences paved the way for Zuma."
Regional conferences also determined who got what government job or tenders.
"The ANC regional chairman position in the eThekwini regional is very powerful. The chairman is more powerful than the mayor," Ndlovu said.
- SAPA
