ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo, has called for collective accountability in the party, blaming all its leaders for the ANC’s poor performance in the 29 May general elections.
In a political lecture delivered on Thursday evening in the General Gizenga Mpanza region, Mtolo pushed back against the argument that the provincial executive committee (PEC) should be disbanded over the party’s loss of KwaZulu-Natal in the vote.
Mtolo lamented the perception that KwaZulu-Natal was solely responsible for the ANC’s loss of power, pointing out that, while the province had managed to maintain some level of support up until May, the party had been losing ground across the country since 2009.
“It is as if the ANC’s failure is being attributed only to KwaZulu-Natal,” he said. “But the truth is, the party began losing power in 2009. In that year, while KwaZulu-Natal was still a stronghold for the ANC, the party started losing support across other provinces. By 2014, this trend had only worsened.”
In the May elections the ANC secured less than 17% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal, which has been attributed to several factors, including the growing influence of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
Mtolo argued that the ANC’s downfall could not be explained away by the performance of KwaZulu-Natal alone but was a consequence of poor leadership at all levels, from branch to national structures.
He said the poor performance in the province was symptomatic of a wider problem facing the ANC nationally. Internal divisions and a lack of accountability have left the party in disarray, he said, and until leaders at all levels accepted their role in this decline, the ANC would continue to struggle to regain the public’s confidence.
“Now the question we must ask ourselves, comrades: ‘At what point has every member and every leader of the ANC, from the branch, voting district, sub-region, the PEC [to] national accept that the loss of the ANC is all our fault because we all have contributed to it?’ Because it is only then that we will turn the ANC to be what it’s supposed to be.”
He pointed to Confederate General Robert E Lee, who, after losing the American Civil War, took full responsibility for the defeat. Mtolo used this example to emphasise what he views as the ANC’s failure to reflect honestly on its own shortcomings.
“General Lee, when asked about the loss, said, ‘It is my fault,’” Mtolo said.
“He did not blame the soldiers, nor did he deflect responsibility. He accepted the consequences of his decisions. This is the kind of leadership the ANC needs — one that takes responsibility, rather than pointing fingers.”
“At what point will we admit that the loss of the ANC is our collective fault?” he asked. “Until we reach this moment of honesty, we will not be able to restore the ANC to its former glory.”
The comments come after a letter from ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula, which called for the PEC to meet to discuss the party’s recent setbacks.
Originally scheduled for Saturday, the meeting will now take place on Monday, according to sources close to the party.
Mtolo said the KwaZulu-Natal leadership had acknowledged their part in the election loss but emphasised that every level of the party must accept its share of the blame.
“The provincial leadership has already accepted responsibility for the loss in KwaZulu-Natal,” Mtolo said. “But we need to be clear — every structure, every leader must own their part in this defeat.”
The situation in KwaZulu-Natal has become increasingly tense, with the province’s leadership coming under scrutiny for its handling of the elections, which resulted in it being forced to enter a coalition with the Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party to maintain some semblance of power.
A number of senior ANC members have previously suggested that the province’s leadership needed to be overhauled to counter the influence of the Jacob Zuma-led MK party, which has emerged as a rival to the ANC.
The national working committee has already indicated that it will propose changes to the province’s leadership, with recommendations set to be presented to the national executive committee when it meets in mid-December.
