ANC KZN PEC STATEMENT
05 May 2015
The Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal has expressed its disgust at the manner in which some comrades behaved during eThekwini regional conference over the weekend.
The PEC meeting considered a number of organisational issues and amongst them was the disruption of the conference by some unruly delegates.
The disruption of the conference and ill-discipline shown by some comrades was worrying and needed to be dealt with urgently. This ugly situation resulted in the conference being adjourned until it is reconvened by the leadership.
As part of preparations for the reconvening of the conference, the leadership will hold a meeting with all branches of the eThekwini region to engage them politically on issues of unity and cohesion.
To ensure discipline in the organisation, the PEC has taken a decision to tighten the existing disciplinary processes with any member found to be disrupting an ANC gathering to be subjected to stringent disciplinary actions.
The ANC appreciates the fact that all regions, with the exception of eThekwini, have held their conferences.
The PWC will further embark on the programme of intensive training of regional officials in all regions on running the organisation effectively.
The recent spate of attacks on foreign nationals was also discussed in the PEC meeting and members expressed serious concerns about these developments.
However, the leadership commended the quick intervention by government at all levels under the leadership of President, Cde Jacob Zuma who even cancelled his official trip to Indonesia to ensure that this matter was being attended to as a matter of urgency by the highest office in the land.
The PEC also appreciated leadership by the Premier of KwaZulu- Natal, Cde Senzo Mchunu, who initiated a Provincial Intervention Team – led by MECs as well as eThekwini Municipality leadership.
This team has been tasked to work day and night to ensure appropriate interventions and to render necessary assistance to victims of violence, including the provision of shelters to house them. Such shelters are now located at Isipingo, Chatsworth and Phoenix.
The PEC further commended His Majesty the King for the bold step he took by convening an imbizo to address the communities, spread the message of peace and urge the people of KwaZulu-Natal to refrain from attacking foreign nationals.
The meeting further called on the government to pursue the implementation of suggestions by the King within the ambit of the laws of the country.
The PEC is humbled by the response from various communities who have reacted positively to the calls made by leadership of our government to reintegrate all documented foreign nationals into their areas.
The ANC in the province further urges communities to participate in ongoing social dialogues and programmes that seek to reintegrate our foreign-born brothers and sisters.
We are happy that the Phoenix shelter has closed down and the numbers in other shelters have declined to about 500 from more than 8000 people at some stage in the past few weeks.
While urging the public to welcome foreign nationals back to the communities, the PEC is calling on the national, provincial and local government to fully address the root causes of the discontent expressed by the locals to avert a re-emergence of conflict.
While commending the various steps taken to deal with the attacks, the ANC has also noted that criminals have exploited the situation and played on the vulnerability of some within our communities. The PEC therefore urges the Security Cluster to continue working hard in making sure that we never see the ugly scenes we have witnessed in the recent weeks.
The PEC meeting also dealt with a plethora of other organisational issues.
Statement issued by ANC KZN Provincial Secretary, Sihle Zikalala, May 5 2015
