The view of expelled ANC member Carl Niehaus, that a separate movement needs to be established to ‘salvage’ the party’s historical mission, is shared by several ANC members in KZN.

This is according to the chairperson of the ANC radical economic transformation (RET) faction, Nkosentsha Shezi, whose camp is opposed to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership.

“It’s a fact that the majority of ANC members, particularly here in KZN, are devastated following Ramaphosa’s re-election.”

“As the RET, we are concerned that the majority of the ANC members in KZN will vote for opposition parties in 2024 if something is not done to reassure them that the ANC’s historic mission and the party’s resolutions, particularly around economic transformation, would be salvaged.”

Niehaus, who resigned a few days after the ANC national disciplinary committee resolved to expel him from the party, recently announced a new movement to accommodate party members unhappy with the direction the ANC under Ramaphosa was taking.

“Comrades, this year we are going to continue to build a broad civil society, a broad political movement that will work for the full liberation of our people. That will also work for the liberation of those many comrades in the African National Congress who have been betrayed by a rogue, sell-out, white monopoly capitalist agent comprador capitalist group,” Niehaus said in a statement.

A staunch supporter of former president Jacob Zuma, Niehaus, before his expulsion from the ANC, was part of the RET faction wanting Ramaphosa removed at the party’s December elective conference.

While Shezi said Niehaus’ plans to launch a rival movement to the Ramaphosa-led ANC was the expelled party member’s ‘own personal initiative’, he revealed that members of the ANC’s RET faction were currently ‘considering various options’.

“If you look at the people who have been elected to leadership positions at the ANC national conference, most of them are Ramaphosa loyalists. This tells us that these people will fully participate in the project to sideline president Jacob Zuma; this will anger a lot of ANC voters in KZN.

“As the RET, we have an obligation to provide the people of KZN with an alternative political home ahead of next year’s national elections. We will definitely be making an announcement before the end of January.”

Shezi was speaking to The Witness yesterday. On the same day the newly-elected ANC secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, revealed that the party’s top brass was planning to hold a meeting with Zuma, who is at loggerheads with Ramaphosa.

However, Shezi said the newly-elected ANC leadership was not sympathetic to Zuma.

“There is no way in which they can make peace with president Zuma. Their mission is to undermine him in order to appease Ramaphosa. That’s why we are so disappointed with Ramaphosa’s re-election. It’s bad for the RET forces and president Zuma,” he said.