ANC Mpumalanga conference postponed again

The long-overdue ANC Mpumalanga elective conference that was planned for the upcoming weekend has been postponed again, as internal divisions in the province soured.

The provincial conference has been postponed several times before after factional battles turned violent.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the ANC leader, is in Mpumalanga on Monday to deal with the factional spats among the branches. Some party members have reportedly approached the courts to interdict the provincial conference, citing branch and regional disputes that were never resolved.

According to provincial task team coordinator Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, the 11th to 13th March planned conference date fell away after some branches protested.

“The national organising committee gave the branches the go-ahead to go back and do the re-runs, some are sitting today [Monday] up to Thursday, so it was going to be impossible to go to conference the next day. So we must allow these branches to finish and have an audit outcome,” she told Newzroom Afrika.

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Provinces are preparing to hold conferences ahead of the December national elective congress where Ramaphosa would seek re-election for a second term.

Accompanied by head of ANC presidency Sibongile Besani and national executive committee (NEC) member Gwen Ramokgopa, Ramaphosa held meetings with the members behind closed doors.

The last time Mpumalanga elected new leaders was in 2015, when the now deputy president David Mabuza became chairperson. With the PEC term having long expired, the NEC dissolved the structure last week, replacing it with a task team to oversee the party functions until a conference was held.

Earlier, provincial task team convener Mandla Ndlovu told Ramaphosa and party members that the president had “nothing to fear” in Mpumalanga.

“When branches say avail yourself for the second time, if that would be that call…do not say no, you should say yes,” Ndlovu said to cheers from the audience.

Ramaphosa is expected to address the party members after the closed meetings held throughout the day in Mbombela.

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