THE ANC has finally dissolved the provincial executive committees of the party in Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape. Both Mpumalanga and the eastern Cape say they are ready to hold their elective conferences but would have done so with expired mandate in terms of the ANC’s Constitution.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said in a statement on Thursday that provincial task teams will be mandated to ensure that provincial conferences will be held, and new leaders elected.
The task team appointed in the Eastern Cape will be led by Oscar Mabuyane, the former provincial ANC chairperson.
In Mpumalanga, the province’s former acting chairperson, Mandla Ndlovu, will lead the provincial task team.
Mpumalanga was set to hold its conference on 11 March. The current PEC os the province was elected in 2015 when Mabuza was still the provincial ANC chairperson.
The ANC in the Eastern Cape, on the other hand, was scheduled to hold its conference at the end of March.
In a letter issued on Wednesday, ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile quoted rule 17.2 of the ANC’s constitution which says that the provincial conference shall be held at least once every four years and more often if requested by at least one third of all branches in good standing in the province.
Mashatile said rule 17.3.3 provides that the provincial conference shall elect the provincial chairperson, deputy chairperson, provincial secretary, deputy provincial secretary, treasurer and thirty additional members of the provincial executive committee, who will hold office for four years.
“The provincial secretary shall be a full-time functionary of the organisation. The current provincial executive committee (PEC) of the ANC Mpumalanga province was elected at a provincial conference held on 13 – 15 December 2015. Accordingly, the term of office of the PEC has expired,” reads the letter.
Infighting and failures to convene regional and provincial conferences were cited as the motivating factors for the drastic change. However, some claimed the move was aimed at ensuring that the CR faction maintained its grip on both provinces ahead of the governing party’s general council in July and the elective conference in December,” said Mashatile.
- – Inside Politics
