The ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) sitting this weekend is expected to discuss the political environment in the Eastern Cape. The parlous state of local government, the deployment of members of the African National Congress (ANC), and preparations for the alliance summit will also be high on the agenda.

Since the recent provincial ANC elective congress in East London, the province has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The call by the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro for Mayor Nondumiso Maphazi to step down and expulsion of Buffalo City Mayor Zukiswa Faku may compel Luthuli House to discuss the stability of the province.

Faku’s case is already before the party's National Disciplinary Committee to establish whether the embattled Amathole region is correct to fire Faku. The provincial leadership is against the firing of Faku as well as the calls for Maphazi to step down, saying this will create instability in the province.

The NEC is also expected to dispatch the National Working Committee to the province to check on the state of affairs of the organisation in the Eastern Cape.

On Thursday ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said that distressed municipalities and other “policy areas” of concern to the tripartite alliance would top the agenda. The ANC’s focus on municipalities comes as the party gears up for the 2011 local government poll amid growing protests in townships across several provinces.