Mkhize calls for discussions, not insults

Former health minister Zweli Mkhize said he believed that personal attacks on opposition parties and those campaigning for them are not the answer to the challenges facing the ANC.

Mkhize, a former premier of the province, was addressing ANC supporters at the weekend after a raft of National Executive Committee (NEC) members from the province hit back at former president Jacob Zuma, who has openly endorsed the newly formed MK Party.

The former president has criticised ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa and said he would campaign and vote for the MK Party in the upcoming elections.

NEC members Bheki Cele, Sbu Ndebele, Sihle Zikalala and Senzo Mchunu in recent days have all addressed Zuma’s support for a rival party.

Cele has been the most vociferous in his criticism of Zuma, his once close ally, for saying he would return to the Union Buildings to fix the country’s challenges.

“He had the supreme power of the presidency. All of a sudden he wants to fix things. If he wanted to fix things he should have done that while he was president, not to come here now and talk about fixing things,” Cele said.

Mkhize was not scheduled to address the cadres’ forum convened by the Ndwedwe sub-region of the General Gizenga region in Ilembe on Saturday, but was in the area and was asked to briefly attend the meeting.

Mkhize, who did not name Zuma, said people should acknowledge that there were genuine problems inside the ANC that needed to be addressed and launching personal attacks was not the solution.

“People should be talking to one another instead of trading insults, especially with people who no longer want to be part of the organisation.”

He said ANC supporters must maintain the party’s principles and characteristics even if someone makes or takes a decision that is not acceptable to them.

When insults are used in disagreements, he said, these arguments become heated and people end up fighting over what started as a discussion, referring to this as the politics of correction.

Mkhize, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Cele, Mchunu, Ndebele and Zikalala have all been roped in to assist the ANC with its election campaign in KwaZulu-Natal as the party faces its most hotly contested election in years.

The ANC is facing pressure from the IFP, the EFF and the MK Party as it seeks to consolidate its hold on the province and its economic hub, the eThekwini Municipality.

Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said Mkhize was a mature veteran in the party who was displaying leadership when the party was in crisis.

“As a leader, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, you have to make calculated decisions, you cannot talk based on emotions and you have to consider the feeling on the ground.”

He said the ANC did not manage the announcement by Zuma well and should have had a sit-down, similar to the discussions that took place with Struggle veteran Mavuso Msimang.

“They reached out to Msimang and he withdrew his resignation from the party but a similar approach was not used with Zuma.

“This is being badly managed and even those who are critical in public will find that the insults will come back to the ANC – they all have skeletons in their closet,” Khumalo said.

The Mercury