Difficult road ahead for the ANC: Mthethwa

Delivering the Archie Gumede Memorial Lecture at Pietermaritzburg city hall on Thursday, Mthethwa said one of the problems was within the party ranks where some members sought to enrich themselves.

"We need to guard against individuals who are blocking other comrades from joining our movement. We have people who are prepared to defend themselves, not the ANC and we must speak against this," Mthethwa said to members.

The memorial lecture was in honour of Gumede - the son of former ANC president Josiah Gumede - who became the ANC's Pietermaritzburg assistant branch secretary in 1949 and led delegates from Natal to the Congress of People in Kliptown in 1955 where the Freedom Charter was adopted.

According to Mthethwa many lessons can be learned from Gumede who he described as a selfless and peace loving leader.

ALSO READ: National minimum wage still a hot topic in Parliament

He told party members that Gumede would be disappointed with the recent conduct of some party members in a veiled reference to the ANC veterans who have been critical of current ruling party leadership including President Jacob Zuma.

"Gumede believed in dealing with ANC matters from within. What we see today is shocking where people who want to be popular at the expense of our movement call press conferences and talk about party matter because they want to appear on television. We must speak out against this," the NEC member urged members.

He warned that the conduct of the veterans was not an example worth following by younger generations.

Mthethwa said 2017 would be a difficult year as some members seemed obsessed with the elective conference as opposed to the equally important conference.

"Comrades have decided to contest openly, claiming that they have been lobbied. This is a challenge when all of us should be channeling our energies on dealing with poverty that is devastating our communities."

Mthethwa called on party members to pay homage to leaders such as Gumede who left a rich legacy by building strong branches.

ALSO READ: Cabinet to discuss SASSA matter next week

He cited leaders such as Gumede, Moses Mabhida and Harry Gwala all from the KZN Midlands as shining examples of discipline who should be honoured regularly though lectures so that they are not forgotten.

The lecture was attended by the Gumede family, former United Democratic Front (UDF) office bearer Murphy Morobe who worked with Gumede, ANC PEC member Mdumiseni Ntuli and local mayors including Msunduzi Mayor Themba Njilo.

Earlier, on while making welcoming remarks ANC Moses Mabhida Regional Secretary Mzi Zuma took a swipe at the veterans accusing them of siding with counter revolutionaries and called on the rank and file to defend the ANC leadership against the onslaught.

"What we are seeing now is shocking and leaves us with a sense of disbelief where some families with great struggle credentials are waging a war against the ANC, even going to the extent of siding with counter revolutionaries," said Zuma.

The region is made up of Pietermaritzburg and surrounding areas including Richmond, Camperdown and Howick.