By Celani Sikhakhane
- Senzo Mchunu says the ANC believed Jacob Zuma would return but instead he started a rival party and took the party’s colours with him.
- The ANC has launched a campaign to regain lost ground in KwaZulu-Natal ahead of the 2026 local elections after a major defeat last year.
The African National Congress was caught off guard when former President Jacob Zuma walked out and never looked back.
Speaking in Wembezi near Estcourt on Sunday, ANC National Executive Committee member Senzo Mchunu said the party had hoped Zuma would return. But instead, he left for good and took what Mchunu called the party’s “treasure” — its colours.
“We believed he was going out and would come back, but he never looked back,” said Mchunu.
He compared Zuma to others who left the ANC pretending it was temporary, only to later start what he called “demagogue parties”.
Mchunu was launching the party’s Asiye eKhaya (Let’s go home) campaign. The aim is to rebuild ANC support in KwaZulu-Natal after last year’s painful loss at the general election.
In 2024, the ANC managed just 17 percent of the vote in the province. Mchunu said this reminded him of 1994, when the party had also struggled to break 30 percent.
He said losing the uThukela District, home of former president Josiah Tshangana Gumede, was a major blow.
Mchunu welcomed new prominent members who defected from rival parties, including the Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters, Inkatha Freedom Party and National Freedom Party.
One of them is a former NFP councillor from the iNkosi Langalibalele Municipality. Another is a former regional secretary of the EFF.
Mchunu said the ANC would campaign hard in rural areas and traditional leadership communities to win back voters before the 2026 local elections.
The ANC started losing its grip on KwaZulu-Natal in 2021 when it lost several municipalities and districts to coalitions led by the DA, EFF, ActionSA and IFP.
They had previously taken the province from the IFP in 2004 with help from the United Democratic Movement and the Minority Front.
Mchunu was joined at the campaign launch by fellow NEC member Dickson Masemola, Josiah Gumede region chairperson Simphiwe Mazibuko, and provincial leaders Mbali Frazer and Nhlakanipho Ntombela.
Pictured above: ANC NEC member Senzo Edward Mchunu welcomed new members to the organisation from EFF, DA, IFP and NFP
Image source: Celani Sikhakhane
