ANC members fear attending branch meetings over deadly violence

Deadly infighting among ANC branches in Mpumalanga, which resulted in the deaths of several members, is threatening peace and stability, following the recent provincial conference which opted to support President Cyril Ramaphosa’s second term as head of the party for another term.

The Mpumalanga ANC provincial conference may have gone smoothly, but blood is on the floor as grassroots members are at one another’s throats in intense factional wars throughout the province. The battles are for the control of the branches towards the ANC national conference to be held in Johannesburg from 16 -20 December.

Several branch general meetings continued to be disrupted by members who arrived and drowned out the proceedings with freedom songs before they allegedly attacked their opponents – forcing meetings to be stopped.

Now members fear attending further branch gatherings in fear of becoming victims. The Pienaar-Nelspruit area is the hardest hit by the violence.

Recently ANC ward 29 branch secretary Solomon Mongwe was viciously assaulted by rival members.

Then one of his alleged attackers was allegedly killed in ward 21’s Kanyamazane. In September in the same area Tshepo Sithole, chairperson of the ANC Youth League was stabbed in an ANC meeting held at Pienaar’s Kamsogwaba Community Hall.

Former ANC ward 32 branch secretary, Chris Manzini, was killed in an ANC branch meeting in the Mbombela sub-region. The homes and cars belonging to Ward 22 ANC branch task team (BTT) coordinator, Shirly Mabuza and fellow a member, Bongane Dube, were damaged in attacks, allegedly carried out by fellow ANC members.

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Ward 22 BTT convener Themba Mpila said his branch had been the hardest hit by the violence. An interim task team was established to organise a branch general meeting (BGM) that would elect a new branch executive committee but had been unable convene pre-BGM meetings due to ongoing disruptions by rival members.

“There has been a well-coordinated chaos by these comrades to disrupt our BGMs,” said Mpila. He claimed rising political animosity was being characterised by violence among lower structures throughout the province.

– ericn@citizen.co.za