No early vote, says ANC
The ANC in Limpopo will not endorse the call by the national leadership of the ANC Youth League for an early elective conference.
LIMPOPO – This was the firm stand taken by the party’s Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) during a special provincial meeting at the weekend. The ANC’s next elective conference is scheduled for 2019.
The party took the opportunity to do introspection after the ANC lost support in the local government election on 3 August.
The call for an early conference was first tabled by the ANC Youth League. The move was however rejected by the ANC Women’s League while the party’s PEC in Gauteng called for a special national consultative conference to assess the state of the nation and agree on the necessary intervention for the livelihood of the party post the elections.
Speaking at the sidelines of the meeting, ANC Provincial Secretary Nocks Seabi said an early conference would require more resources which the party does not have.
“The outcome of the 2016 local government elections should never be seen as a massive decline of support for the ANC as the numbers clearly indicate that the majority of our people chose not to vote rather than vote for the opposition,” said Seabi after the meeting.
“The future of the ANC will be determined by how we forge a way-forward and rebuild the party including our ability to capture the imagination of our people as the only embodiment of their aspirations,” added Seabi.
Seabi said the outcome of the elections also holds additional critical messages specifically on the voter outcome in Vhembe region which had the lowest voter turnout in the country.
He said the “regrettable turnout” can be explained through the challenges faced in the Vuwani due to demarcation issues.
“The party further accepts full responsibility for the ANC failure to be a ruling party in the Thabazimbi and Modimolle/ Mookgophong local municipalities.
“It was the view of the PEC to lead a program in the said municipalities in an effort to engage with all structures, alliance partners and organs of civil society so that the party could go back to basics,” added Seabi.
ANC Youth League provincial Secretary Che Selane the league was “duty-bound” to oppose the move by the mother body.
“We stand by our guns in support of the national leadership’s call for an early conference. An early conference would help redeem the ANC from its failures at the August polls and beyond,” Selane said.
