Cracks within ANC continue to widen

Cracks within the ANC have continued to widen, if the unresolved matter of 19 quarantined Ekurhuleni votes – which yesterday led to a delay by several hours of the Gauteng ANC elective conference – was anything to go by.

After a marathon of meetings, ANC bigwigs serving on the national executive committee (NEC) and provincial executive committee (PEC) failed to resolve the quarantined Ekurhuleni votes, which are fundamental in determining who won the recent regional leadership contest.

Gauteng ANC conference delegates were clearly divided into supporters of Panyaza Lesufi and Lebogang Maile for the position of chair. Other divisions seen at recent provincial conferences in the Eastern Cape and North West indicated the depth of factionalism in the embattled governing party.

The week has been marked by the ANC convening a special NEC, but being unable to find a solution to the Ekurhuleni quarantined votes from a recent regional conference. The matter will now have to be resolved by yet-to-be elected PEC officials, leaving Ekurhuleni without a leader.

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Incumbent Mzwandile Masina last month faced a tough election battle against Nkosindiphile Doctor Xhakaza for the position as chair, narrowly beating his opponent by 12 votes, with a crucial 19 ballots from five branches being quarantined. Responding to a question during a media briefing in Benoni, Gauteng ANC secretary Jacob Khawe conceded there were “lessons the ANC has learnt from all these challenges”.

“We should at all times be consistent in ensuring adherence to guidelines we are adopting. We should also spend time to listen to grievances, with the leadership dealing with matters objectively rather than subjectively.

“Sometimes we diagnose a problem and do what exactly created a problem. Within the context of renewal, we have to do the right thing when discovering problems. We did discover that there was a manipulation of processes, something which has been noted in the diagnostic report of the [national general council] and subsequently at the Nasrec national conference.

“But we have not stopped doing these things. There is a lesson learnt on the Ekurhuleni matter and I am sure we will do things better in the future.”

Khawe said a decision to forge ahead with the provincial elective conference, despite tensions, was geared “to save the conference”.

“We did communicate to our branches and other structures, what led to our difficulty for not starting the conference on time. ‘We could not start the gathering without the secretary and chair’ so the matter was referred back to the PEC.

“We are hopeful of a newly elected leadership finding a solution to it by next month. The threat of a court action will always be there.”

In song and in slogans, ANC delegates supporting Lesufi and Maile shouted and taunted each other inside the packed auditorium, draped in the black, green and gold colours of the party. The gathering is expected to elect a new provincial leadership over the weekend.

Following the release of the final instalment of the state capture report, implicating the ANC and its leaders in playing a role on aiding state capture, the Gauteng ANC conference is expected to respond to the damning findings by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

– brians@citizen.co.za