ANC Women’s League national conference put off

THE ANC Women’s League has postponed its national elective conference for the umpteenth time.

This is as the league continues to grapple with disputes over branch membership audits and protracted delays in verifying the list of delegates to the conference.

The conference was initially scheduled for April 17, but was postponed to Thursday this week.

Late yesterday, the ANC’s national working committee – the party’s highest-decision structure – was locked in a meeting, trying to find ways to revive its ailing women’s wing structures.

The league’s acting spokeswoman, Khusela Sangoni, said a determination on the date of the national conference would be made when the ANC’s national executive committee sat on Friday.

But apparently the conference has been moved to May 21.

According to some regional leaders, the ANC cited delays in the finalisation of the verification process for the final delegates lists for the postponement.

So far, only two provinces – KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape – have had their provincial general councils (PGCs).

The difficulties in holding the conference have persisted, despite the ANC appointing a task team made up of party bigwigs such as Lindiwe Sisulu, Thulas Nxesi, Thoko Didiza and deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte, among others.

With just less than 10 days before the rescheduled national conference, some of the league’s regional leaders said their provinces were still scrambling to resolve disputes over branch audits and to finalise candidate lists.

A leader from Western Cape said that “some of the league’s structures in the province are in a shambles. It would take a miracle for us to meet the mandatory 70% threshold to allow us to go to the national conference.”

Sangoni confirmed that only KZN and the Northern Cape had held their PGCs. “We expect all the outstanding PGCs to sit during the course of this week and at the weekend,” she said.

Meanwhile, the race for the league’s foremost senior positions is hotting up. Incumbent president Angie Motshekga will slug it out for the highest position with Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.

Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane’s name was also touted as among the main contenders, but her prospects appear to have faded.

KZN was said to be intensifying its efforts to mobilise other provinces to back Dlamini. But Motshekga remains the front runner, with provinces such as Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape among those said to be backing her. The Free State’s provincial chairwoman, Sisi Ntombela, has emerged as the front runner for the secretarygeneral position.

About 3 000 delegates were expected to attend the national conference, with about 90% comprising branch delegates and the rest drawn from the tripartite alliance structures.