Some disgruntled members of the African National Congress (ANC) in the North West 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. All lodged with the erstwhile plc and the electoral committee will be heard and resolved. 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.”
Tightly contested conference
Meanwhile, some political analysts have predicted that the long-awaited North West ANC conference will be highly contested.
This as already 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 North West Premier Bushy Maape.
Mahumapelo’s supporters believe he will make a comeback.
His campaign leader, Lopang Rothman says, “We support comrade Supra Mahumapelo, you would know that as the previous chair of the PEC of the ANC in the North West, we had an ANC that was stable. The ANC was active, vibrant, and had programs. We believe that he will get the 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.
“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 he is diligent. 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.”
The race is on for ANC chairpersonship in the North West:
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