ANC delays KwaZulu-Natal elective conference to prioritise local government elections
Jeff Radebe’s task team in KwaZulu-Natal has been given a lifeline until after the local government elections.
Image: Supplied
The ANC has formally postponed the KwaZulu-Natal provincial elective conference until after local government elections.
The long-awaited conference was expected to be held at the end of April 2026, according to the party’s roadmap. However, the national leadership has formally asked the party’s provincial task team (PTT) to shelve it and focus on preparing branches and regions for the all-important local government elections.
The postponement has long appeared unavoidable, given the PTT’s apparent failure to get more than 800 branches ready to elect new leadership.
According to the latest roadmap, which had been revised several times, the party’s 11 regions were expected to elect their leadership by the weekend of April 7 (next week).
However, several regional and branch leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, previously raised serious doubts that this deadline would be met. The April 7 deadline was meant to pave the way for the provincial conference, which was expected at the end of the month.
On Wednesday, the party’s provincial spokesperson, Fanle Sibisi, confirmed the postponement of the conference, saying it would be held after the elections.
“The national leadership has asked us to prepare for local government elections, but will continue building structures although the conference would be after elections,” said Sibisi.
The postponement means the new lifeline for Jeff Radebe and Mike Mabuyakhulu-led PTT, which was established after the disbandment of the Siboniso Duma and Bheki Mtolo’s provincial executive committee.
The party reconfigured the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC), stripping Duma of his powers as chairperson and handing them to Radebe as convener. Mtolo’s responsibilities as a provincial secretary were transferred to Mabuyakhulu as a coordinator.
There were speculations that the national leadership would strip Radebe’s PTT powers to run elections following their apparent failure to revive branches to get them ready for the provincial conference.
When ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula introduced the PTT in February 2025, he directed the structure to conduct branch audits as its first task to determine whether the party still exists in the province. This was after its decimation by Jacob Zuma’s Umkhonto weSizwe Party in the 2024 general elections.
However, it appears that the PTT has yet to accomplish this task, as many branches in the party’s 11 regions are yet to elect new leadership.
In the eThekwini region, which is the biggest with 111 branches, only one branch has managed to elect new leadership, which is tangible proof that the party exists in the branch.