The African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State province will elect its new leadership collective when the provincial congress re-convenes this morning in Parys.
The conference which was delayed by more than six hours from the planned starting time had to be adjourned late on Sunday night to allow delegates time to rest.
However, very minimal changes are expected to current provincial executive committee after chairperson Ace Magashule told hundreds of delegates that there will be no contestation.
Magashule who has been the provincial chairperson of the ANC for more 20 years received a hero’s welcome.
Magashule used his address to the conference to hit back at members who took the party to court leading to several delays in convening the congress.
“All these people who are in court today have the best senior counsel, very good lawyers and these guys don’t have a cat, dog or house, and they have nothing. And we are going there to account, where do they get the money.”
Last week the High Court in Bloemfontein ordered a re-run of 29 branch general meetings after supporters of outgoing deputy chairperson Thabo Manyoni claimed that they were not properly constituted.
Manyoni was largely expected to contest Magashule for the top job. However, his absence during the opening session of the conference raised eyebrows.
“All the years, all the time, I have never campaigned. The media has been saying there is contestation in the Free State, there is no contest here. Stop cropping up people. The leadership here is nominated by branches, I am sure it will come back uncontested.”
The conference also degenerated into a muscle flexing exercise.
Delegates sang songs pledging support for former African Union commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to take over as ANC president at the governing party’s national elective congress later this week.
Magashule has also been nominated for the secretary general position on Dlamini-Zuma’s slate.
“If you are not going to behave and you come from our province, we just say thank you and please go away because you can stop the national conference.”
As the provincial conference resumes on Monday morning, the SABC has reliably learned that Manyoni’s faction will be at the Bloemfontein High Court in a bid to challenge the constitutionality of the meeting.
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