eThekwini ANC dismisses Zandile Gumede as ‘politically dormant’ after MKP recruitment

The ANC in eThekwini has played down the significance of Zandile Gumede’s move to Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), calling her politically inactive and rejecting suggestions she poses a threat to the party ahead of local government elections.

ANC labels Gumede “politically dormant”

At a media briefing outlining the party’s readiness for the upcoming elections, Thanduxolo Sabelo, the eThekwini ANC task team coordinator, said the party did not view Gumede as a danger to its dominance.

“The ANC has never relied on individuals since its inception in 1912. Who ever thought that the ANC would live after Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela? We never depended on individual leaders. Leaders come and go, and the ANC remains. By the way, Gumede has not been politically active for years now, so we do not understand how she is a threat to us,”

Background and recent developments

The source reports that Gumede was publicly presented by the MKP about two weeks before the briefing. She is currently facing trial over a R320 million solid waste tender corruption scandal. According to the source, Gumede was arrested in May 2019 and was removed as mayor in August 2019. Following her arrest and removal from office, the source says she was forced to step aside because of the corruption charges, but she was re-elected at the 2022 eThekwini ANC regional conference.

MKP response and party moves

The MKP convener in KwaZulu-Natal, Willies Mchunu, is reported to have downplayed speculation that Gumede was recruited to be the MKP’s eThekwini mayoral candidate, saying that such a decision would be made by Jacob Zuma and the party Secretary-General Sibonelo Nomvalo.

The article also notes that other former ANC members who joined the MKP with Gumede include her former deputy chairperson in the ANC and former Human Settlement Committee head Mondli Mthembu, and former eThekwini councillor Stanley Moonsamy.

Disciplinary action inside eThekwini ANC

At the same briefing, Sabelo announced the dismissal of the party’s Ward 8 councillor, Marco Mbambo, after the ANC found him guilty of secretly working for the Democratic Alliance (DA). The source says Mbambo is expected to be unveiled by the DA in its media briefing and that he was expelled from the council.

What the ANC emphasised

The eThekwini ANC used the media briefing to stress the party’s preparedness for the upcoming local government elections and to reject the idea that Gumede’s move to the MKP represents a destabilising threat.