Most ANC branches struggle to manage a minimum of 100 members, but Mbongi Hlongwa runs a branch with up to 4 000 members in ward 1 in KwaXimba, KwaZulu-Natal – and this week, that branch threw its weight behind former health minister Zweli Mkhize’s lobby to take over from President Cyril Ramaphosa as the next leader of the governing party.
The new online ANC membership system records that the branch has 2 500 members, which is a far cry from its potential, says Hlongwa, but is understandable, since the area – halfway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg – is predominantly rural.
