Durban — The ANC eThekwini region hopes to bring back into the fold members of the party who boycotted the 2019 national elections and has assigned the task to former KZN Education MEC Mthandeni Dlungwana.
Dlungwana was appointed last week by the ANC provincial leadership as the new eThekwini Regional Election Team Co-ordinator.
A letter signed by the provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, to the regional secretary, Musa Nciki, on November 15, states that Dlungwana has been assigned with immediate effect as the co-ordinator of eThekwini.
The letter goes on to say Dlungwana will work full-time at the regional office and be provided with all the tools of trade until the end of elections.
According to ANC regional spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize, the party took this decision because the Provincial Election Team wanted to make sure that they appointed appropriate team members that would account for elections and their outcome.
“We all know that eThekwini is a special region with the highest concentration of people. If we were to win by 70% in all the other regions and get 40% in eThekwini, that means that we are still going to lose KwaZulu-Natal, but if we get that 40% in all these regions and get 70% in eThekwini, we would win in KwaZulu-Natal.
“So we are taking it in that spirit. The leadership wants to get involved and ensure that we bring our members back. Previously, we’ve had 1.1 million votes in the eThekwini region. But we have declined to 700 000 which means about 400 000 people have stopped participating in elections. We are, therefore, trying to increase the number and making sure that we get at least 1 million and above in eThekwini,” said Mkhize.
Dlungwana’s term as Education MEC ended in 2019.
Mkhize criticised politicians who leaked the letter about the newly appointed elections co-ordinator.
“It is very surprising and shocking that you are in possession of a letter that was sent to the regional secretary by the provincial secretary. This indicates that are gossipers who want to push their own agenda. We have issued many letters previously, and have never been questioned about the information contained in them.”
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