By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@MYANC.
The African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Fikile Mbalula led a delegation on a working visit to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), aimed at reinforcing organisational unity, improving coordination, and supporting structures to effectively deliver on the party’s programme of action.
The ANC reconfigured its KZN leadership earlier this month, after dissolving the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) in 2024 and installing a task team.
This followed a sharp electoral decline, from 54% in 2019 to just 17% in 2024.
The visit also marked the induction of the Provincial Task Team (PTT), strengthening leadership capacity and ensuring focused organisational renewal in the province.
The new additional members were appointed to the PTT, trimming the number of the previous structure from 67 to 36.
ANC Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane said, following internal assessments, it had no option but to make changes within provincial and regional task teams in the province.
Mokonyane said the decision to reduce the size of the structure was driven by inefficiencies and the need to reinforce party structures.
Its secretariat is in the province for the next two days to implement changes.
The party will announce new regional task teams for all eleven regions in KZN on Thursday.
However, a leaked list of regional task team (RTT) leaders shows the likes of Jomo Sibiya, Thabani Nyawose and Thanduxolo Sabelo.
The ANC faces significant internal and external challenges across several provinces ahead of the local government elections. The issues include provincial leadership instability, fractured alliances and deteriorating service delivery in critical municipalities.
The party’s NEC postponed the KZN elective congress until after the 2026 elections, officially because over 800 branches and 11 regions failed to meet the threshold for leadership elections by April 2026.
Although the decision was made solely to focus on election preparation, this delay has raised concerns about the party’s cohesion and prospects in a province where it already faces a strong challenge from the MK Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
Meanwhile Mbalula have filed a formal notice to withdraw from appealing the judgment that halted the Eastern Cape ANC provincial conference.
“Kindly take notice that the second (ANC) and third (Mbalula) respondents hereby withdraw their application for leave to appeal,” reads the notice filed on Wednesday. Conference has not sat in the Eastern Cape. So, we have got a fully functional provincial executive committee that’s doing its work and there is no crisis for now.”