Free State ANC ready to hold provincial conference to elect new leaders

At last the ANC in the Free State is ready to hold its provincial conference to elect new leaders but Luthuli House wants order in the province as it cracks the whip demanding that leadership must shape up or ship out.

Riot act

One of Luthuli House’s action was to read the riot act to the interim provincial leadership to end factionalism in the province. The non-nonsense ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula firmly acted to put Mangaung Metro by ordering for the restructuring of the Mangaung metro leadership including the recall metro mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana, who was axed this week.

Mangaung had deteriorated to such an extent that service delivery had come to a standstill. Sewage was spilling into the streets and burst water pipes were a common sight in the metro while rubbish filth remained unattended.

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Political in-fighting

The metro had been beset by political infighting among ANC regional leaders who were embroiled in never-ending party power struggles. Two regional conferences held and two structures elected late last year as factionalism intensified towards the recent Nasrec national conference.

ANC interim provincial committee (IPC) co-ordinator Paseka Nompondo said the restructuring was necessitated by the need to improve service delivery in the metro. “This proposal is motivated by the vigour to improve service delivery and provide the necessary political leadership that must lead corporate governance of the Institution. The IPC is hopeful that this matter shall be resolved without delay,” Nompondo said.

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In a tight race for the top spot in the provincial ANC, six senior party members were vying for the provincial chairperson position. But as happened with the recent nominations for the ANC president at Nasrec last December, the list of candidates would be short listed according to the number nominations each candidates received.

Those contesting included the current ANC IPC convener Mxolisi Dukwana, former Mangaung mayor Thabo Manyoni, Free State premier Sefaro “Sisi” Ntombela, Education MEC and Tate Makgoe. So far Nompondo was the only candidate known for the provincial secretary.

Nompondo said the following the IPC meeting on Thursday, they decided to hold the elective provincial conference from 20 to 22 January at Imvelo Safari Lodge.

Verification process

He said a verification process had established that 242 ANC branches or 75% of them in the province had qualified which showed the Free State had surpassed the 70% threshold for holding a conference. The verification report indicated that both Fezile Dabi and Thabo Mofutsanyana regions were above 70% threshold therefore were ready to hold their regional conference to be assisted by the provincial leadership to be elected next week, but after the provincial conference.

Lejweleputswa region was still facing some troubles as its regional conference was being challenged by some members. Nompondo said the IPC had received court papers that litigate against the regional conference of Lejweleputswa.

He said the documents had been referred to lawyers to prepare replying affidavits as the IPC had decided to defend the matter.

ericn@citizen.co.za