African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Ace Magashule says after assessing the state of the party in the North West, the consensus is that disbanding the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) will not resolve the current problems there.
Three out of four regions in the province have not held their regional conferences.
The National Working Committee met with the Provincial Executive Committee, led by Chairperson Supra Mahumapelo on Monday. This follows consultations with all branches over the weekend.
The high-powered delegation of the National Working Committee consulted with all regions over the weekend.
However, National Working Committee Members Treasurer-General Paul Mashatile and Thandi Modise were forced to cancel a meeting scheduled to take place at the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati region in Vryburg, following violent disruptions.
In Bojanala, the party’s biggest region, and the Dr Kenneth Kaunda region, some branches wanted the national leadership to disband the Provincial Executive Committee, alleging that they have been anointing branch leaders.
A high ranking ANC member who did not want to be named confirmed to the SABC that they are pushing for the Provincial Executive Committee to be disbanded and for the provincial conference set for February next year to be postponed.
However, after consulting with branches over the weekend, the party leadership met with the Provincial Executive.
Magashule says although the party faces serious challenges, disbanding the provincial executive is not an option at this stage.
“Across the regions, our organisation is faced with challenges. It’s not everybody who says disband. Majority of comrades say let’s move forward. We are going to assist and guide comrades. We are interested to come here; there are challenges; we have done SWOT analysis. For as long as they are divided it means the organisation won’t move forward. So, we are here to agitate that. We have seen some ill-discipline. There is a need to do political work and deal with those who think they can do this anarchy.”
Magashule says talks of disbanding the Provincial Executive Committee are divisive and could destabilise the province’s preparations for 2019’s elections.
“That’s why we are here. We are here to refocus our structures. Come together; let’s work together! This is the year of unity. I think the ANC will stay focused. Nobody is going to ‘defocus’ us.”
Meanwhile, Political Analyst, Professor Somadoda Fikeni says the call for the dissolution of the North West Provincial Executive Council should be treated in a sensitive manner.
“But at the same time, they may wait and see if the PEC is supportive of the new government leadership, as well as those who are deployed as administrators. And if there are tensions along the way, those could be used as a reason for dissolution. They will be a lot more cautious and wait for concrete evidence because they wouldn’t want to do anything that could destabilise ahead of the elections.”
Neither Mahumapelo, nor Spokesperson Gerald Modise would comment.
Magashule says they will now take their reports to the party’s highest structure, the National Executive Council, for further discussions.
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