Jitters over ANC’s Limpopo polls

FIVE ANC regions in Limpopo are set to hold elective conferences next weekend, amid fears that internal contestation this close to an election could pose a distraction for the party.

FIVE African National Congress (ANC) regions in Limpopo are set to hold elective conferences next week, amid fears that internal contestation this close to a national election could pose a distraction for the party in the province, which is a traditional ANC stronghold.

ANC ally, the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the province, expressed concern over the emergence of new factions at a time when structures were meant to be rebuilt and united. The five regional conferences are set to take place next week from Friday to Sunday.

Limpopo ANC spokesman Sello Lediga admitted remnants remained of the factional issues which had plagued the province in the past, but expressed the hope that the upcoming elective gatherings would lay them to rest.

Limpopo’s provincial executive committee (PEC) was disbanded by the ANC’s top brass in March, after long being plagued by intense infighting between those aligned to former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema and those aligned to President Jacob Zuma.

The PEC was replaced by a provincial task team which, according to the ANC constitution, is compelled to elect a new leadership within nine months. The provincial elective conference is expected to take place in December.

The regional gatherings hit a snag after they were postponed this week. Set to take place from today, they have now been shifted to next week due to “logistic and administrative issues”, a spokesman said.

Mr Lediga said the task team would receive a report on the state of readiness on Monday and the programme for the five conferences are likely to be concluded by Tuesday.

Mr Lediga acknowledged the difficulty of running an election campaign, while simultaneously preparing for an elective conference, particularly as the regional and the final provincial gatherings drew closer.

“We are in a difficult situation, both running an election campaign and preparing for conference,” he said. Until now the province has been juggling the two priorities, but with the elective gatherings around the corner, it has become even more difficult, he said.

But he expressed confidence that the province would do well in the polls next year. The ANC obtained 85% of the vote in Limpopo in the 2009 election, a drop from the 2004 election when it obtained 89.7%, according to the Independent Electoral Commission.

The task team in Limpopo had to rebuild party structures, some of which were hostile to the current ANC leadership and aligned to Mr Malema and the axed premier and former ANC chairman in the province, Cassel Mathale.

Sources in the province say jostling for positions has heated up in the run-up to the regional gatherings, particularly in Mopani, Sekhukhune and Capricorn.