The Star Late Edition

ANC conference­s are just jostling for power

- THULANI DASA | Khayelitsh­a By Stephen Francis & Rico

SCORES of ANC delegates from various branches across the Eastern Cape kicked off the party's elective conference on Friday.

The gathering was not about finding solutions to the provinces corruption and unemployme­nt but rather, factional battles.

The ANC lacks a sense of urgency. You look at previous conference­s that have taken place. It's never really about what the party ought to deal with. I ask myself: Are these conference­s really dealing with the problems that people are having on the ground or are they all about leadership contests?

It is sad the elective conference of the ANC is hardly at all about the party coming up with pragmatic solutions and putting heads together.

It's about leadership contests.

It's just politics devoid of substance. It's all a commotion that there was a conference in the Eastern Cape. But the province remains one of the corrupt provinces.

The ANC's step-aside rule is simply not the answer to deal with corruption. It's a beautiful synonym for sick leave. It's a distractio­n from a party that has as yet failed to take any meaningful action against any of the party leadership implicated in the state capture reports.

This conference is not about heads coming together to bring about a solution to the provinces challenges, it's about factional lines.

The ANC government has chosen to consume rather than grow the South African economy it is enjoying it's time in the dinner table, leaving it's job of saving and investing in infrastruc­ture and jobs for future generation­s.

The Eastern Cape needs a new government with a proven track record of better service delivery.

 ?? African News Agency (ANA) ?? PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa and Oscar Mabuyane. |
African News Agency (ANA) PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa and Oscar Mabuyane. |

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