KZN ANC denies infighting, vote-rigging
2012-10-31 19:25
Durban - The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has rejected reports that the party's biggest region was rocked by infighting, claims of vote-rigging and the deliberate exclusion of some branch members.
Provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala said the party was "perturbed by reports suggesting that there was an isolated campaign to isolate some leaders in the eThekwini region ahead of the 53rd national conference".
Zikalala was reacting to news reports of allegations that the region had inflated membership figures with ghost members and deliberately sidelined senior party leaders seen as anti-Zuma from branch meetings and voters rolls.
The reports did not say who was making the allegations.
Zikalala said the fact that former national police chief Bheki Cele's name had been excluded from the voters’ roll of his ward had nothing to do with the region.
The party’s voter rolls were compiled by the African National Congress' national office.
"We want to state clearly that the ANC was not aware that comrade Cele's name did not appear on the voter's roll of his ward until the issue appeared in the newspapers," Zikalala said.
"To suggest that comrade Cele's name was deliberately excluded from the roll by ANC leaders in the eThekwini Region is mischievous."
He said the party had not received any complaints that members were being sidelined.
The party’s provincial leadership had not received any complaints of ghost membership or vote rigging.
"If the allegations made in the media have substance, we urge people who have made them to report them to the ANC, so that we can conduct a thorough investigation before the nomination process closes."
Zikalala said he was concerned at the "the continued publication of fabricated stories, or stories that have not been well researched".
- SAPA
