THERE IS NOTHING SINISTER ABOUT ANC MEMBERSHIP FIGURES IN KZN
The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal has noted with grave concern how some media organisations have questioned the authenticity of our recently released membership figures.
Without consulting us for clarification, some media organisations have looked at our figures with jaundiced eyes and crafted flawed analysis which has unfortunately misled the public as they created a wrong picture that we may have used underhand tactics to up our figures.
Some media organisations have misled the public by suggesting that the KwaZulu-Natal membership jumped up by 79, 183 in just a month. Without questioning their motives for throwing such wrong statements, one wonders if the principles of analysing politics have been tossed out of the window.
That I say because we, time and again, hear people saying even unimaginable things in their analysis, something that creates unnecessary confusion and suspicion.
Perhaps they need to be educated that the recruitment of members in our movement is a very intensive exercise that involves a lot of planning, time, hard work and resources. It therefore cannot be done overnight.
Last year, we took a decision to intensify our recruitment campaign which formed part of the Imvuselelo Campaign, a huge national recruitment campaign which saw the ANC reaching a million members before its centenary in January this year. Our target was to reach 350 000 membership before the end of this year.
As part of the recruitment campaign, the ANC in the province conducted door-to-door visits across the length and breadth of the province. It is worth noting that our recruitment campaign would not have been successful were it not for dedicated and united cadres of our movement.
Our Volunteer Corp Movement (VCM) worked tirelessly on the ground, targeting new members and also encouraging existing members to renew their membership. Each VCM comprises of ten members and all VCMs are attached to IEC voting districts. Their work is coordinated by the provincial office and our 11 regions.
When we conducted a membership audit late last year, our membership sat at 244, 900 and when we did another audit early this year (as part of the preparations for the provincial conference which took place in May), we had 252, 637.
According to the recent audits, we now have 331, 820 members. In actual fact, we have more than that because the recruitment of members is an on-going process. Many new members have been recruited after the audit cut-off date for the national conference and they have not been included in this total membership figure.
It is worth mentioning that in the audit we had last year and early this year, we had thousands of people who were left out either because their membership forms were not properly completed or some documentations such as bank deposit slips were missing. When you discover such problems, you don't fold your hands akimbo and wait for the miracle to happen but your come up with a programme to rectify it. The process can take weeks, months and even up to a year, depending on the complexity of a problem.
So to say that our membership grew by 79, 183 in one month is far from the truth because the recruitment process is a very complex exercise. During the National General Council (NGC) in 2010, our secretary general, Gwede Mantashe praised KwaZulu-Natal's VCM programme and urged other provinces to emulate it.
People who question our growth should do their homework or research well. Unlike in other provinces where membership figures have been fluctuating, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has experienced a very steady growth.
Any person who has been an observer of the political developments in KwaZulu-Natal will know that that there has been a correlation between the growth of the ANC and its political fortunes.
It is interesting to note that during the 1994 general elections, the ANC in KZN received only 32.20% of votes. During the 1994 elections it received 39.38 %, while it received 46.98% during the 2004 elections and a whopping 62.95% during the 2009 general elections. These statistics show that the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has been on upward trajectory.
There is nothing sinister about the latest ANC KZN membership figures and we urge the media to stop creating unnecessary confusion.
Statement issued by Sihle Zikalala, ANC KwaZulu Natal provincial secretary, October 8 2012
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