Internal disputes grip ANC ahead of election

Internal disputes and preparations for the December elective conference were expected to be on the agenda of the national executive committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC), which met at the weekend.

In particular, the dispute over the party’s leadership in KwaZulu-Natal was expected to be discussed. Contrary to ANC national leadership instructions, the now invalidated provincial executive committee has given notice that it will appeal against the High Court in Pietermaritzburg ruling that the ANC’s 2015 provincial elective conference was unlawful. A special meeting of the NEC last weekend decided to disband the provincial executive committee and to appoint a provincial task team in its place.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe was expected to present a legal opinion from senior counsel on whether or not it should be appealed against, to the NEC at its weekend meeting.

A media briefing on the outcome of the meeting is due to be held on Monday.

On Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma will host Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe during his official visit to SA to attend the second session of the SA-Zimbabwe binational commission scheduled to take place in Pretoria. The state of the bilateral relationship between the two neighbouring countries will be examined.

Parliament resumes work after a two-week recess with a host of committees focusing on the annual reports of their respective departments and preparing the budget review and recommendation reports.

On Tuesday, Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts will engage with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors on the progress it has made in its investigations into accounting firms KPMG and Deloitte. It will also be briefed by the JSE on its role in transformation.

On Wednesday, the finance and trade and industry committees will meet jointly to work on the report on the transformation of the financial services sector based on extensive public hearings.