Mbeki tells ANC Western Cape leaders to commit to ending factionalism

Former president Thabo Mbeki on Monday told ANC leaders in the Western Cape that their problems were not unique and should commit themselves to ending factions.

Mbeki spent two days meeting with members of the interim provincial committee (IPC) as part of the governing party’s renewal and unity project.

The ANC in the Western Cape hasn’t been able to recover lost ground, and continues to be on a downward spiral since 2009 when the Democratic Alliance (DA) snatched the province with 51.46% of the votes.

The Western Cape is the only province without an ANC premier at the helm.

‘Make factionalism irrelevant’

Delivering his closing remarks, Mbeki said the problems facing the party in the province were also found everywhere across the country.

“A comrade did say that one of the problems here is factionalism. We must ask ourselves what’s the basis of factions? The identification of problem, I think means a commitment to address it.

“What are we factional about? The same comrade said we must make factionalism irrelevant. By doing that, we would be empowering ourselves to be the agents of change,” he said.

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The former president said he had noticed that some leaders chose to stay away and not attend, adding that such an act indicated underlying grievances.

“I know a bit about this province, hence I was checking with comrades here because I looked around and didn’t see them. We will find them, they’re good comrades. They will help us carry this difficult task once we get them back,” Mbeki continued.

Dullar Omar disbanded

The province’s Dullar Omar region, the biggest in the Western Cape, was disbanded by the national executive committee (NEC) in February.

The NEC cited the region’s inability to proof that it was ready to hold a conference this month.

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The meeting was also attended by ANC’s alliance partners and representatives of the youth league and the women’s league in the province.

According to the IPC, regional conferences are expected to take place next month, while the provincial conference will sit in May.