KZN ANC confirms 'deep cleanse' of membership after electoral loss

The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has announced it has conducted a "deep cleanse" of its membership, aiming to remove "unworthy persons" from its ranks.

The province has been a central focus at the 5th National General Council (NGC), which is currently underway at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.

In last year's general elections, the ANC suffered a spectacular electoral defeat in KZN, dropping to a historic low of 17% of the vote share.

According to the ANC's midterm review report, KwaZulu-Natal possesses the highest number of ward branches among the nine provinces, with 901 in total.

However, the report also revealed a significant issue: more than 82% of these branches have fewer than 100 members.

ANC Second Deputy Co-ordinator, Siboniso Duma, stated that the province needed to conduct an audit of its branch membership following last year's elections.

“In the province of KZN, we all understand what transpired, so we don’t want to short circuit the processes, we want to follow everything to a T and we are in the process of cleansing our organisation, at the same time the voters roll of the ANC. We don’t want a distortion.”

The ANC in KZN has previously acknowledged that it underestimated the number of its members who defected to the Umkhonto Wesizwe Party during the last elections.