Some political analysts have predicted the long-awaited African National Congress (ANC) Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) to prepare for the North West elective conference will be highly contested.
Three heavyweights within the party are intending to contest for the position of provincial chairperson. They are former Premier Supra Mahumapelo, former Member of Parliament Nono Maloi and the current Premier Bushy Maape.
The conference is expected to be convened by the end of next month. Mahumapelo’s supporters believe he will make a comeback.
Leader of Supra Mahumapelo campaign, Lopang Rothman says,“We support comrade Supra Mahumapelo, you would know that as a previous chair of the PEC of the ANC in the North West, we had an ANC that was stable. The ANC that was active, vibrant and had programs, and we believe that he will get a necessary support and he will be elected and emerge as the provincial chair.”
Maloi is optimistic that he will win, while Mmoloki Cwaile, who is steering Maape’s campaign, also believes he is the right candidate.
Maape’s supporter says, “We think we have passed the threshold, like I said earlier on we are winning this conference. Some of the branches of the ANC have been hijacked by thugs and so on. So we need to clean the movement.”
“We are convinced that his diligence, his capacity and his maturity will enable him to bring together all these groupings that are antagonistic against each other in the province and lead them,” Maape’s other supporter reiterates.
