ANC branches across province face audit for conference

THE ANC’s auditors from Luthuli House will this week be scattered all over the Eastern Cape auditing branches of the party’s five regions that are due for conference this year.

This was said by ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi yesterday.

Ngcukayitobi said the party’s O R Tambo, Chris Hani, Buffalo City, Joe Gqabi and Sarah Baartman regions should go to conference no later than end of July.

Should any fail to convene by end of July for whatever reason, the ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) will have to appoint task teams and take over the powers of regions who do not sit.

This was to uphold legitimacy and to avoid disputes that may end up in court ahead of next year's general elections, said Ngcukayitobi.

The provincial secretary said should the auditors do all their work this week, this could see the regions going to conference within the stipulated deadline.

If push came to shove, he said, all the regions would convene during the same weekend.

“All five regions should sit before the end of July. What is outstanding is the audit by the national auditors and BGMs (branch general meetings) but this week auditors are coming down,” said Ngcukayitobi.

“All regions are ready. If circumstances force us, all shall convene during the same weekend. There is no clash.”

Ngcukayitobi said NEC had taken a decision that all structures whose term of office expires this year should convene their conference to eliminate problems with legitimacy in the near future.

Said Ngcukayitobi: “The legitimacy of the structures becomes important. And therefore the NEC took a decision that no structure should take us to general elections without those being legitimate structures. If the structures whose terms have expired do not convene conferences before end of July, the PEC will have to convert those regions into task teams, or alternatively have mechanisms of taking their powers as the PEC for the purposes of the legitimacy of the decisions they will have to take.”

Lobby groups in the regions in question are hard at work mobilising support for their preferred faction.

But O R Tambo, where recently reelected Safa vice-president Xolile Nkompela is seeking to retain his position as regional chairman, is the one mostly watched with keen interest.

Nkompela is facing a tough battle from a group that wants acting regional secretary Melusi Ngqondwana to topple Nkompela and for Xolisani Malindi of Ngquza Hill sub-region to become regional secretary. — zingisam@dipatch.co.za