North West factions take the field
Legitimacy of IPC to convene conference called into question
Factions in the North West are preparing to take legal action against the convening of the ANC provincial conference, which is scheduled for the end of March.
As the ruling party prepares for its national elective conference in December, provinces are expected to convene their elective conferences by June.
The party’s North West interim provincial committee (IPC), led by Hlumani Chauke, is facing a rebellion from some structures that are questioning its legitimacy to convene a conference.
Joe Mboweni, ANC provincial list committee representative in North West, said constitutionally and legally speaking the lifespan of the current IPC had lapsed and its legitimacy was questionable.
“The delegation that will participate in that conference from the branches will also be illegitimate. It is unfortunate that we have raised this matter, but we were ignored because people are taken up by nostalgia, hype and euphoria of getting to the conference,” he said.
Mboweni said the ANC should save itself the embarrassment because allowing the current IPC to convene an elective conference would be futile.
His sentiments were echoed by Lopang Rothman, who was a member of the disbanded ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) and the regional chairperson of Dr Kenneth Kauda. He said they were going to interdict the conference.
“You will remember that we have challenged the ANC NEC’S [national executive committee’s] decision over the dissolution of our PEC that was led by the former chairperson, Supra Mahumapelo at the South Gauteng High Court.
“We are still waiting for the ANC NEC to implement the court decision to reinstate that PEC. So, we have already instructed our lawyers to file for contempt of court against the NEC.”
Rothman said they are also questioning the legitimacy of the IPC structure. The structure was put in place by the ANC NEC to bring unity and rebuild the ANC structures in the province after the dissolution of the ANC PEC structure led by Mahumapelo in 2018.
IPC spokesperson Kenny Morolong said they were ready to convene the conference to elect the new PEC.
“Well, the ANC provincial elective conference will take place as planned. So, the conference will be held at the end of March 2022 at Rustenburg Civic Centre.”
Morolong added that they were not worried about any court challenges because their structure was legitimate.
Andre Duvenhage, a political analyst at the North West University (Potchefstroom campus), said he expected the elective conference to be marred by challenges.
“There are three groupings that are competing. One group is of the IPC coordinator, Hlomani Chauke, another one is of the former ANC provincial chairperson, Supra Mahumapelo and the third one is of the former MP, Nono Maloyi.
“According to my assessment, Maloyi is the strongest contender because most branches are supporting him. But I think we will see delay tactics being applied by introducing legal processes to disrupt the conference,” he said.