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Durban – After political setbacks in the past 10 elective regional conferences, allies of ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa were at last able to score some consolation when they snatched the last region.<\/p>\n
At the weekend they were able to scrape the barrel by grabbing all the five leadership positions of the Inkosi Bhambatha (Umzinyathi District).<\/p>\n
The victory for Ramaphosa allies marked the end of an era for Lucky Moloi\u2019s strong grip on the levers of political power in the region when his slate was defeated by one led by Ntombi Ngubane, a former leader of the regional structure of the ANC Women\u2019s League.<\/p>\n
Moloi, the husband of KZN agriculture and rural development MEC and KwaZulu-Natal ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) member Bongi Sithole-Moloi, was narrowly beaten by Ngubane.<\/p>\n
Ngubane got 125 votes to Moloi\u2019s 111 ending a three-year grip on power. Moloi\u2019s turbulent reign started three years ago when he trounced current housing MEC Jomo Sibiya, one of the few KZN allies of Ramaphosa since the ANC\u2019s elective conference in 2012 in Mangaung.<\/p>\n
Those who know the dynamics of the region, anchored in the coal mining town of Dundee, claimed Ngubane is close to Sibiya and the latter endorsed her as he wanted his nemesis Lucky Moloi to be ousted to end the \u201cMoloi dynasty in the region\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cJomo\u2019s only endeavour has always been to defeat Lucky Moloi, hence he decided to work with Ngubane to do so,\u201d said an ANC insider after the results were announced.<\/p>\n
Another said: \u201cNgubane and Jomo are very close\u201d, cementing the perception that the win is a major boost for the Ramaphosa faction after losing all the 10 other regions of the province to the RET forces who are yet to agree on their ANC’s presidential candidate ahead of the December conference.<\/p>\n
Ngubane laughed off claims that he was aligned with Sibiya and ultimately, Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not aware of the allegations, my brother,\u201d Ngubane said when the Daily News asked her about allegiances.<\/p>\n
Sibiya said he preferred not to entertain any further questions as there was a new leadership working hard to build unity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone peddling such gossip is stretching it too far. Actually, this is laughable. Delegates, who had leadership preferences approached the conference with maturity. I respect the former leaders \u2013 all of them \u2013 equally. I will continue to do so. And I respect the new leaders \u2013 all of them equally. And I will never change,\u201d Sibiya said.<\/p>\n
The entire slate of Moloi lost the contest, as even the former mayor of Umvoti (Greytown) Thami Ngubane narrowly lost to Sinethemba Hadebe. Former regional secretary Bheki Lembede who was in Moloi\u2019s corner, lost the position of regional secretary to Lucky Khumalo while Lungi Mabaso lost the position of deputy regional secretary to Siphelele Ngcobo.<\/p>\n
As for regional treasurer, Linda Ngubane narrowly defeated Patrick Mawila \u2013 Moloi\u2019s running mate.<\/p>\n
Moloi, who after losing the regional conference, was elected in absentia to the provincial executive committee (PEC) of the SACP at a simultaneous conference in Durban, said he was humbled by his elevation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a reflection of a higher confidence and recognition of quality in leadership \u2026 \u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Other than ending \u201cthe reign of the Molois\u201d in the region, Ngubane\u2019s slate made history as it became the first region in KZN to get two women (the other one is Siphelele Ngcobo) elected to the regional top five in the current wave of 11 elective conferences.<\/p>\n
The largely rural region in the north-western part of the province and dominated by the Ngubane clan includes Dundee, Greytown, Nquthu and the politically volatile uMsinga. All its four local municipalities and the district is governed by the IFP.<\/p>\n
Daily News<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Durban – After political setbacks in the past 10 elective regional conferences, allies of ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa were at last able to score some consolation when they snatched the last region. At the weekend they were able to scrape the barrel by grabbing all the five leadership positions of the Inkosi Bhambatha (Umzinyathi District). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[11451,1490,982,3963,426,11500,3450,3154],"class_list":["post-91742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-backers","tag-elections","tag-finally","tag-kzn","tag-ramaphosa","tag-regional","tag-score","tag-win"],"yoast_head":"\n