JOHANNESBURG Rebels from within Zapus South African province this week successfully wrestled two offices from their rivals but lost all legitimacy with their party in the process.
The group, now known here as Ufudu Oludala (old tortoise) camp, took over the partys two offices in Berea and Yeoville last week, but have since been roundly condemned and dismissed as an illegal structure by all party officials in South Africa, something that has left them facing dismissal from the opposition movement.
The rebels, comprising mostly the youth from Yeoville, led by Pretoria-based George Mkhwanazi, are protesting their recent loss in the partys recent provincial elections, held in Booysens, Johannesburg, citing alleged irregularities in the process.
A member of the group, which also has the partys former head of security, Mgidliza Mwelase and former interim youth spokesman, Mlamuli Nkomo, vowed that the stand-off will drag on till an intervention by the national executive.
We want the party President to come here and solve this issue in exactly the same way that he solved it last year, said the member. However, other party members have dismissed the Mkhwanazi camp as a group of power-hungry individuals who are trying to save their faces after they lost the recent elections. Zapu spokesman, Methuseli Moyo, referred our reporter to Luke Sayi, who speaks on the partys external structures.
Both Sayi and Busani Bhalagwe, the partys SA provincial spokesman, said that proper procedure was followed, adding that the elections were both free and fair, with all candidates having agreed to the procedure before they were conducted.
Our provincial conference went without any incident, said Bhalagwe. Sayi refused to comment on the two offices taken over by the renegade faction, saying this was a Johannesburg district issue.
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