POLITRICKING | Xhakaza warns against power struggles as ANC's Ekurhuleni leadership race looms

With the ANC in Ekurhuleni set to hold its long-awaited regional conference before the end of the year, its convener Doctor Xhakaza has suggested it might be best for the organisation to avoid the battle often associated with the pursuit of positions.

The last elective conference the region held, back in 2022, left some bloodied, as Xhakaza took on former mayor and now parliamentarian Mzwandile Masina for the position of chairperson. 

The results of that conference were also set aside in the high court following a year-long dispute over ballots that were not quarantined. The discounted votes were believed to have the ability to swing the conference in Xhakaza’s favour, with some party members at the time, claiming they were pushed aside to help keep Masina in power. 

That win went on to galvanise Masina’s former ally TK Nciza’s rise to the position of provincial secretary when the ANC in Gauteng held its own conference.

“We think we're on a good way to get a conversation in Ekurhuleni where we actually share responsibilities, and if we manage that aspect well, it will certainly lay a foundation of what must happen in in the upcoming provincial and national conferences,” said Xhakaza.

The Ekurhuleni mayor, who’s held on to the city east of Johannesburg’s mayoral chain for just over a year, said he knew contestation was what made the ANC dynamic, but seemed to recognise growing fears that the race for power might spell the end of the organisation.

Xhakaza was this week’s guest on EWN’s Politricking with Tshidi Madia.

Several of the ANC’s national conferences have given birth to splinter parties; Cope rose from the ashes of the 2007 watershed Polokwane conference, EFF followed its 2012 Mangaung conference and the results of both 2017 and 2022 saw the rise and return of now party President Cyril Ramaphosa, unleashed the arrival of the Umkhonto WeSizwe Party on the political scene.

The latter delivered the most devastating outcome for the former liberation movement at the polls, which saw the ANC losing its clear majority for the first time since the dawn of democracy 3 decades ago.

“Our focus now is that in the region, we must minimise contestation,” he said.

The ANC convener, who refused to confirm whether he’s interested in becoming the party’s mayoral candidate for the next cycle of local government elections, seemed to also believe that his party, despite the deteriorating state of the city he runs through a coalition government, is well on its way to reclaiming lost support.

In 2016 the party garnered 49% of the votes, a figure which dropped to 38.19% in the 2021 polls, these being results Xhakaza insists took the party by surprise. 
Judging by his current posture on the party’s current standing, the mayor might be in for another rude awakening, as he insisted there is hope of the ANC making a remarkable comeback.

“The ANC is back, all what we need to do is sort out the hurdles that are there in government, turn [things] around for the better and I’m sure our track record, going forward will speak for itself in the next election cycle,” he said.

Xhakaza recently survived a motion of no confidence, a win, EWN understands is owed to the EFF. 

This he tried to underplay, insisting it was the promise of stability in the city that helped him survive, he also struggled to admit that there were wayward ANC councillors, who if he’s not careful, would like to see the back of the mayor. 

After a series of back and forths, the mayor admitted there was frustration in his caucus, blaming that on the relationship between EFF MMCs and ANC ward councillors, whom he claims were suffering from services being withheld, ultimately impacting how residents experience service delivery.

He also dismissed the motion itself.

“We did indicate that it was a frivolous motion, sponsored by a one-man party, by the way, who happens to be the former CEO in the city,’ added Xhakaza.

He also discussed his contentious relationship with the EFF, explaining that coalitons at local government level have been affected by deliberations and tensions at both provincial and national levels.

“There has been a conversation about the type of coalition we must form at a local government level. Is it ideological orientation that must inform it or is it a pragmatic, solutions based? And that conversation has been about policy orientation because at local government it’s about us delivering services,” he said.

Xhakaza said the conversation of what the coalition should like continues, this as the country fast approaches the next cycle of municipal elections.

“That conversation, it was a very strong and including when we had to remove the members of the EFF. It was very strong on the table, but of course, it was overtaken by events, because suddenly there were conversation in Gauteng in terms of their relationships and all that we respect our leadership,” he said.

Xhakaza said the region had to reconcile its posture on the matter, on that of the province, which has been vehemently opposed to working with the DA.

“We have had to find a way to make the current arrangement to work. We've put it before the provincial leadership and the national leadership that the EFF must agree to a coordinated way of governing,” said the mayor.