Mkhize could exploit North West ANC infighting to increase his chances of being elected

Some disgruntled ANC members in North West have been joined by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) to challenge the validity of the recently elected ANC provincial executive committee (PEC), creating new division in the party as the province prepares for Nasrec later this month.

The move has antagonised the mother body against the youth structure and the ANC is opposing the application filed by Selebogo Mosadiwatshipi and six other ANC members. It will be heard in the North West High Court in Mahikeng tomorrow.

Some ANCYL members had submitted affidavits in support of their complaints about irregularities that happened at the ANC provincial elective conference in August.

ALSO READ: ANC North West: Regional branches now taking control following internal clashes

The seven complainants, who were from ANC branches, cited the ANC, the national executive committee, ANC provincial chair Nono Maloyi and other structures of the party as respondents.

Mphekwa House, ANC provincial headquarters in Mahikeng, and all its three leagues for youth, women and veterans, will go as a united force to the conference, scheduled for 16 to 20 December. They are expected to speak with one voice on certain positions and the bloc should have an impact on the electoral results.

ANCYL not a complainant

ANC provincial secretary Tshiamo Tsotetsi stressed the league was not a complainant but it supported the disgruntled members. The irregularities included the bad administration of the ANC conference on August where the party PEC was elected.

Tsotetsi said credentials were not properly adopted and accreditation tags for delegates were duplicated. Some members were locked out of the conference by the system while the laser scanner for delegates was faulty and inaccurate.

In terms of the ANC constitution, the party has 12 provinces, which includes the ANCYL, the Women’s League and the Veterans League.

It is feared that the infighting between the ANCYL and provincial ANC, led by Maloyi, could be exploited by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s challenger, Zweli Mkhize, to increase his chances of being elected. Mkhize was said to be busy consolidating support from all anti-Ramaphosa forces to maximise his tally.

Ramaphosa received 2 037 nominations against Mkhize’s 916. However, it is likely Mkhize could increase his support, currently confined to KwaZulu-Natal, if other presidential hopefuls Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Lindiwe Sisulu agree to withdraw in his favour.

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa’s visit to Ditsobotla unlikely to bring about change, says analyst

But Dlamini-Zuma appeared opposed to the idea, while Sisulu was busy challenging the party’s electoral committee chaired by Kgalema Motlanthe over the nomination figures.

Sisulu and Dlamini-Zuma did not make the nomination cut as they fell below the required threshold for their names to be put on the ballot paper.

North West ANC chooses Ramaphosa

The North West ANC has chosen Ramaphosa as its preferred candidate.

North West was previously a Jacob Zuma faction stronghold under then strongman, Supra Mahumapelo, whose influence had been minimised after the previous PEC that he led was disbanded and replaced with an interim provincial committee.

In a statement this week, the ANCYL also accused the PEC of attempting to coerce its provincial chair Wessels Morweng into signing a court affidavit contradicting the ANCYL position regarding a petition it produced on the irregularities that happened at the ninth provincial conference.

However, ANC Women’s League provincial task team convenor Bitsa Lenkopane, who was initially part of the group that complained about the conference irregularities, withdrew her complaint and distanced herself from the other complainants.

– ericn@citizen.co.za