ANC region fumes over conference delay ahead of manifesto launch
AS PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa prepares to address the ANC’s election manifesto launch and anniversary rally on January 12 in Durban, anger is brewing among some members against the top brass.
Supporters of former president Jacob Zuma are angry about the ANC national executive committee’s (NEC) decision to ban the party’s Moses Mabhida Region in KwaZulu-Natal from holding its conference before the May elections.
The NEC last year instructed the party’s regional structure to delay its conference until after the elections so that it could focus on campaigns.
The disgruntled group, which also supports former ANC regional chairperson and education MEC in the province, Mthandeni Dlungwane, spent the better part of New Year’s Eve picketing in Durban to demand that the NEC and provincial executive committee (PEC) allow the conference to take place before the elections.
The group’s spokesperson Sthembiso Nkuna said the NEC was breaching the party’s constitution by preventing the region from holding its conference.
“Section 18.5 of the ANC constitution rules that the interim structure (appointed by the NEC in the province) can only serve six months, and (should) allow the conference to sit.
“Which constitution are they applying if they say we must delay the conference until after the elections?” asked Nkuna.
He said after the group had not received a satisfactory response when it consulted the PEC, it went to protest at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg in November, demanding that the conference take place and that it not be delayed any further. He said on Monday the branches from the region marched to Coastlands Hotel in Durban, where the PEC was holding a meeting.
“After picketing, provincial chairperson Sihle Zikalala told us that the officials, including NEC member Nocawe Mafu, would on Thursday address the branches of the region about our demands,” said Nkuna.
Meanwhile, Mafu, who was deployed to the province to resolve the political impasse there, told Independent Media yesterday that the NEC would not succumb to the group’s demands. She said the ANC’s decision to ban the conference until after the election still stood.
“This is the national decision, so it is not humanly possible for the conference to take place as we are busy with the campaign now. We are meeting the secretaries and chairpersons of branches and the RTT (regional task team) on Thursday to discuss this.”
She also highlighted that while Ramaphosa was to address the manifesto launch at Pietermaritzburg’s Harry Gwala Stadium on January 8, the event had been cancelled as the stadium had been booked for a PSL soccer match on the day.
“The launch will now be combined with the birthday celebration at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on January 12,” she said.
In 2017, Nkuna insisted that the region was ready to hold its conference, but then ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe poured cold water on the idea, highlighting that the structure needed to focus solely on preparing for the party’s national conference later that year.