ANC not an organisation of hooligans - Mchunu

Pietermaritzburg – The ANC's provincial chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal told delegates on Friday that the ANC "was a movement, not an organisation of hooligans".

Senzo Mchunu was delivering his political report at the 8th ANC Provincial Conference at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg.

"There is manipulation of individuals, systems and procedures at branch level, up to the offices of the organisation in some cases, to manufacture pre-determined results in the run-up to elective conferences.

"This tendency, in particular, is sadly sponsored and powered by people coming from upper structures," he said.

Mchunu said democracy should thrive at branch level. "Let there be no henchmen... who impose their will on branches. We have seen violence, threats and the brazen use of force at times... on other members of the ANC if they are deemed to be opposing those who we support.

"The ANC is a movement not an organisation of hooligans," he said.

Mchunu said another tendency was the emergence of hatred among members due to their different views. "This manifests itself to a level where one would rather talk to and fraternise with members of opposition parties as opposed to fraternising with one’s own ANC comrades."

Mchunu said these tendencies had reached boiling point, particularly during internal electoral processes. He said there had been a long build-up to the conference, which had, in some cases, been divisive.

It was not correct or healthy for members to only be active during elective conferences. There were challenges that needed to be dealt with that are "serious but not insurmountable", Mchunu added.

He said he believed that the province would survive the turbulence.

This article first appeared on News24 – here.