W Cape ANC vote not likely yet

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 20 2017 THE ELECTION of a new ANC Western Cape leader will, in all likelihood, be postponed to next year after the party’s national secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, banned all regional and provincial congresses after September 30.

“We are now three months to the national conference. To ensure that there are no disruptions in this period, the following must be implemented,” wrote Mantashe in a letter to the party’s structures.

Mantashe also gave the go-ahead for branches whose audits were completed to hold meetings to nominate the next leadership.

It was reported earlier this month that audits had been completed in six provinces, with KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape outstanding.

Appeals on branch meetings should be lodged within 72 hours for complaints to be deemed valid.

Mantashe’s letter comes amid concern that the national elective conference scheduled for December could be in tatters with all the legal court battles.

Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Jerome Mnguni last week declared the ANC’s KwaZuluNatal 2015 conference unlawful.

This sparked calls for the party’s provincial chairman, Sihle Zikalala, and his entire provincial executive committee to vacate the offices.

The ANC in the Western Cape was set to hold its (PGC) meeting to elect a new chairperson in October. Former provincial chairperson Marius Fransman was axed from the ANC for five years after a sexual harassment complaint by a 21-year-old Stellenbosch woman.

Factional battles have plagued the ANC in the Western Cape in recent years, costing the party at the polls.

The infighting also stems from friction between groups in support of the different ANC presidential contenders – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and former AU chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

According to sources, the Western Cape is firmly behind Ramaphosa, with a few Zuma-backers in the provincial executive council.

ANC Western Cape spokesman Lionel Adendorf said the province had received Mantashe’s letter and would have more clarity after the next NEC meeting.

The ANC’s national executive committee meeting was moved from Monday to Friday.