Divisive political differences, which have dogged the African National Congress’ (ANC) Branch General Meetings (BGM) to decide who will represent branches at the Mangaung conference next month, may continue to rear their head in the coming Provincial General Councils and then all the way to the elective conference next month. The ANC’s Provinces are expected to hold their final meetings by the end of this month but some analysts believe that the destructive differences which dominated several branch general meetings are likely to continue, resulting in some branches endorsing their own preferred candidates as opposed to the collective choice of their provinces.ANC Provinces have just a few days left to hold their General meetings. This will be the last step in consolidating the work done by branches.
The Provincial General councils will provide a clearer picture on what can be expected at the ANC’s elective conference
Political analyst, Somadoda Fikeni believes the contestation is set to continue beyond the provincial meetings and that the differences that emerged in branch meetings could carry over, with the positions of regions not being adopted by all the sub regions. “If the issue in the BGM’s and the issues in the regions in the provinces some of them have not been resolved, or a commitment to resolve them has not been shown in the strongest possible manner, such discontent may actually find expression in the conference itself,” says Fikeni.Gauteng will only hold its Provincial General council on December. The Province says this is to ensure that it has taken all branches on board. “The PGC nomination conference was originally going to be this Saturday, but we have given branches that are remaining more chances so that they do not feel as though they have been side-lined,” says Gauteng ANC Secretary-General, David Makhura.
The Provincial General councils will provide a clearer picture on what can be expected at the ANC’s December elective conference
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