President Jacob Zuma’s attackers are ightweights, says KZN party chairman.
|||The ANC in President Jacob Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal has thrown its weight behind the president, vowing to ensure that he serves a second term as the leader of the ruling party.
On Tuesday ANC deputy provincial chairman Willies Mchunu said the province would “carry” Zuma to victory next year as it did in the 2007 ANC conference held in Polokwane, where Zuma trounced the then state president, Thabo Mbeki, at the polls.
The battle lines are now clearly drawn ahead of the party’s elective conference scheduled for Mangaung in December next year.
Zuma has recently come under siege from certain quarters within the ANC as some members want to see him being replaced by deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe.
The campaign to remove Zuma is being led mainly by the suspended ANC Youth League leaders, with its president Julius Malema being at the forefront.
At the ANC’s Limpopo provincial conference this weekend, anti-Zuma supporters – including the suspended ANC Youth League president – sang songs ridiculing the ANC president.
They sang: Shawara ya re sokodisa (the shower head is giving us a hard time.)
The shower is in reference to comments made by Zuma during his rape trial in 2006 where he said he had taken a shower after having sex with an HIV-positive woman so he could reduce the risk of infection.
But Mchunu yesterday warned those who were launching attacks at Zuma. He said that there would come a time when Zuma would hit back, and they are “going to feel it. In fact they are going to feel it when all of us hit back,” he said, speaking in isiZulu.
Without mentioning any names, Mchunu said there were many people who were now attacking Zuma, including people that he referred to as “lightweight”.
Mchunu said that in 2009 the province delivered the numbers to ensure that Zuma was elected president, and would again do so to ensure he remained in the top job.
KZN is currently the largest provincial voting bloc of the ANC, accounting for about 25 percent of the total membership.
The recent rapid rise of ANC members in the province has been largely linked to the appeal that Zuma enjoys in KZN.
Another ANC leader in the iLembe district, Ricardo Mthembu, said that the party was pleased with the work that Zuma had done, especially for the poor, and also vowed to ”defend him” to ensure that he carried on as president of the ANC.
Mthembu – also the mayor of KwaDukuza – and Mchunu – who is also the MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison – were speaking at the launch of Operation Hlasela (an anti-crime campaign) and Operation Valingozi, to stop the carnage on the roads.
The event, held at KwaMaphumulo outside Stanger yesterday, was also attended by Zuma, who shied away from political developments, focusing instead on crime and the dangers of drinking and driving. After his speech, the crowd broke into pro-Zuma songs.
Meanwhile, earlier this week the SACP in KZN also said it was concerned about the attacks aimed at Zuma. - Daily News