Following the KwaZulu-Natal African National Congress’ (ANC’s) Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting, party secretary Bheki Mtolo has lamented what he referred to as "reckless utterances" by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Zondo recently said at the OR Tambo Public Lecture at Fort Hare that government had betrayed Tambo's values and ideals.

Mtolo said it was becoming clear that Zondo viewed himself as above everybody else in the country.

“He is a referee, a player, a goalkeeper, a linesman and assistant referee. All-in-one. He is the jack of all trade. He has descended to nothing else but a pure political charlatan that must be exposed of his true intentions. Maybe the time has come for us as the nation to ask if South Africa is not facing a judiciary capture because that would be the worst kind of State capture in our democracy,” Mtolo stated.

He believes it is strange and reckless for Zondo to use Tambo to attack other ANC leaders and the party.

“We do understand that all South Africans have political views but the Chief Justice should know better,” he said.

PEC MEETING OUTCOMES

Meanwhile, of focus at the PEC meeting were issues relating to job creation, employment and crime in the province.

Mtolo said that ANC structures and society at large needed to be integrally involved in the campaign to create safer neighbourhoods.

The organisation is satisfied with the progress made around loadshedding in the province since its last PEC meeting, which President Cyril Ramaphosa attended, where a call was made for Eskom to fulfil its obligation to supply electricity to ensure the socioeconomic wellbeing of all South Africans.

“We wish to acknowledge progress that has been made by the ANC government since that meeting with the President. We have noted Eskom’s efforts to ensure the energy availability factor (EAF) across all power stations,” Mtolo said.

He claimed that former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter and COO Jan Oberholzer failed dismally to do this.

He further said that the KZN province was still in support of the National Energy Crisis Committee to speed up the approval for the construction of new power plants.

The KZN ANC will hold its Provincial General Council (PGC) in May and as part of the preparations, Branch General Meetings (BGM) will be convened across all regions. Mtolo referred to the PGC as a political school which will help the ANC assess the road it has travelled and the impact it has had in leading and transforming society.

“As part of the BGMs, we expect ANC members in good standing to be involved in the nomination of candidates for Members of Parliament and provincial legislature. As we approach the PGC, we expect our members to conduct BGMs in a manner that strengthens unity and cohesion. In keeping with the culture and tradition of the movement, we want our structures to be involved in the election of leaders who will keep our movement on the right course. With that said, we call for more attention to be given to the branches to enable the organisation to continue to be the voice of the poor and the unemployed,” Mtolo said.

The PEC is also in agreement that ANC structures must focus on service delivery as the basis of political engagement.

“All programmes of service delivery and transformation of the economy require understanding and involvement of ANC structures and alliance partners. After all, the ANC was created to champion socioeconomic transformation for the benefit of indigenous people who were oppressed in the land of their own birth. We must take a stand that ensures that no one feels marginalised, isolated and prevented from taking part in the programmes of the congress movement,” Mtolo said.

The PEC has taken a resolution to undertake an audit of all branches to determine compliance with the ANC Constitution.

“Our main focus is to ensure that as the leader of society, communities on the ground are part and parcel of the ANC Programme of Action. No member of the ANC or alliance partners must feel that their contribution towards building this province is insignificant,” said Mtolo.

The PEC also resolved that the ANC government identify collapsed good governance in municipalities after allegedly receiving a detailed report on the state of municipalities.

“In the interest of communities, the PEC has mandated the ANC government to intervene and where possible, take away certain powers from municipalities when they transgress or where criminal investigations have been conducted and those suspected of wrongdoing have been charged. It is, however, true that our interventions have been rather too late in some instances as we remain worried that in some municipalities infrastructure is collapsing, service delivery is affected, with communities denied access to basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity. These are realities we are facing. And we continue to act,” Mtolo said.