As the long-awaited African National Congress (ANC) provincial conference in the North West draws closer, political analysts and observers believe the conference will be hotly-contested.
Five people have already indicated their intention to contest for the provincial chairperson’s position. They are the former premier, Supra Mahumapelo, the current premier, Bushy Maape, former MP Nono Maloi, and MECs of Finance, Motlalepule Rosho, and Economic Development, Keneetswe Mosenogi.
Both Rosho and Mosenogi, who believe they are equal to the task, have confirmed that a number of branches nominated them and they have accepted.
“The are branches that are nominating me, and I am accepting nominations and there are branches that are calling me and saying we see this in you don’t decline our request that we would wish to have you as the chairperson of the province. I am humbled.”
“I am available for any position that the branches of the ANC wish me to continue to serve the province, and I am prepared to continue to serve.”
The race is on for ANC chairpersonship in the North West:
Meanwhile, political analyst, Professor Andre Duvenhage, believes the two women contenders are facing an uphill battle.
“Personally I do not think that the two, women stand a strong chance of competing and winning these particular elections. What I agree with them is the major challenges in the province at the moment and the strong leadership is needed.”
Maloi, Maape, and Mahumapelo who are believed to be the main contenders have also indicated their availability to lead the party. The provincial conference is scheduled for the 23rd until the 25th of this month in Rustenburg.
‘Disputes not resolved’
Some disgruntled members of the ANC in the province say the party’s hotly-anticipated provincial conference will not go ahead if all the branch disputes are not resolved.
They are also questioning the legitimacy of the dispute resolution committee saying it is made up of conference candidates who may manipulate the process for their own benefit. Lopang Rothman is one of the disgruntled ANC members in the province.
“For an example in Dr Kenneth Kaunda, we know of almost 20 branches that are manipulated, and what we know is that currently now there is a process of disputes. The unfortunate part is that the same people who are sitting as dispute committee members are the people who are nominated by these branches. Now you can’t expect a fair game, a fair process with that issue. We would not now indicate what would be our next move. But like we said, no conference is going to continue up until all issues that we’ve raised as concerns are attended to.”
The Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) has denied the allegations. IPC spokesperson Kenny Morolong explains:
“The disputes will be dealt with from the 4th June to the 12th June. We reiterate our call for calm and we call on our communities to allow these processes to ensue without hindrances. The continued calls to dissolve the IPC are without merit. The accusations that the IPC members were involved in the manipulation of candidate selection processes can only be determined through a credible process of dispute resolution.”
