Redesign of ANC top structures mooted

The Northern Cape ANC wants the party’s NEC to be reduced to 40 members, and wants a special task-oriented ‘revolutionary council’.

ANC’s president Jacob Zuma, right, and deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa lead the NEC in song during the party’s Siyanqoba election rally held at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, 04 May 2014. The event was attended by Siyanqoba means “We are winning and rally marks the culmination of the ruling party’s election campaigning ahead of the 7 May 2014 general elections. Picture: Refilwe Modise

The ANC in the Northern Cape has proposed a radical redesign of top brass structures to enable the organisation to function smoothly and further suggested a presidential commission to probe restructuring of provincial governments.

The province decided at its special provincial general council at the weekend that the national executive committee (NEC) should be reduced to 40 members, instead of the current 80, while the national working committee (NWC) must be replaced by a task-oriented “revolutionary council”.

Provincial secretary Deshi Ngxanga said the special provincial general meeting held in Kimberley this weekend proposed that the revolutionary council report to the NEC quarterly. The province further suggested a broader “top nine” leadership structure to replace the current top six officials.

Its position was in line with views expressed earlier in the political overview by ANC provincial chairperson Zamani Saul at the provincial general council.

Saul questioned whether the NEC structure comprising the top six and NWC were appropriate for the party to function effectively. He said the current NWC setup was an “unnecessary appendage” and had no specific tasks.

“With the current challenges confronting the movement, we need to consider restructuring the working committee into a revolutionary council with taskassigned members,” Saul said.

The provincial general council adopted Saul’s suggestions that the revolutionary council should comprise the party president, two deputy presidents, the secretary-general, three deputy secretary-generals, the national chairperson and treasurer-general.

He said the current provincial set-up was a “fiscus guzzler” that went against the ANC’s historic mission of a unitary state.

Saul added the question of radical economic transformation would form part of the second phase of revolution after the National Democratic Revolution.

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