Some African National Congress structures, including the ANC Youth League, may call for a special conference to tackle the ”war” between President Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma at the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting this weekend.
The call could be made if the conflict appears intractable. The ANC has mandated the two leaders to come up with proposals to resolve their tensions, which have spawned unprecedented divisions in the organisation.
On Thursday, the party said the joint report prepared by Zuma and Mbeki will be discussed at the meeting. ANC head of presidency Smuts Ngonyama said the report had already been presented to the smaller national working committee, which was satisfied with it.
Ngonyama said the rape allegations against Zuma would not be discussed, despite his comment earler in the week that the allegations were very serious.
Youth League members have bemoaned the lack of leadership in resolving the conflict and, although the league has not taken a final stance, some members have suggested a special conference as a remedy.
They argue that a conference would enable the broader party membership to participate in giving meaningful direction. If necessary, it could be elective.
Those against the proposal argue that the NEC needs time to resolve the conflict, and that the conference would fall too soon after the national general council (NGC) in June. The NGC is the ANC’s highest decision-making structure in between congresses.
However, a member of the ANC’s Gauteng executive said a special conference would still be necessary because internal tensions had worsened since the NGC. Many of the NGC’s resolutions were either not being respected or being subjected to contentious interpretations.
”The issues we thought the NGC had resolved have got out of hand. Otherwise, we would not be as divided as we are,” he said.