The ongoing disarray in the South African National Civics Organisation continued this week when the organisation’s national congress was disbanded with no agreement on how to take the paralysed civic movement forward.
The congress, which was held at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, was preceded by violence on Tuesday when Sanco members from two parallel structures in the North West pushed and shoved one another, some coming to blows over which group should attend the conference.
‘We dealt with them unprofessionally, I mean we have assaulted them,†a Sanco member belonging to the grouping that assaulted other delegates told the Mail & Guardian this week.
The M&G understands the congress was adjourned on Wednesday night after delegates disagreed over two motions. Some provinces wanted a vote of no confidence passed against the current Sanco leadership, which is led by an ally of President Thabo Mbeki, Mlungisi Hlongwane. Others wanted an interim committee appointed to take over and prepare for another congress.
The congress was marred by vitriolic interchanges between Sanco and Cosatu leaders, a lack of discussion documents and the resulting failure to elect new leadership. The M&G understands that no discussions took place at the congress on major policy issues regarding poverty, unemployment and HIV/Aids; problems that mostly affect the poor Sanco claims to represent.
Addressing delegates at the congress Sdumo Dlamini, Cosatu’s first vice-president, also attacked Sanco branches, saying most of them were ‘silent and nowhere to be found when communities needed leadership on the challenges they faceâ€.
It is generally accepted by Sanco provincial leaders that the organisation did not feature prominently in protests organised by disgruntled community members over the Twelve Amendment Bill in cross-border municipalities such Moutse in Mpumalanga, Merafong in North West and Maluti/Matatiele in the Eastern Cape.
The SACP, which claims no massive grassroots support, exploited the situation in the case of Merafong and emerged as a voice of the community.
The M&G has learned that Sanco, which claims 6,1-million signed-up members in 4 300 branches, has no audited national membership figures.
Because of a lack of a membership database the Sanco national executive committee agreed that each province should send a standard 100 delegates to the congress. Chaos erupted when provinces sent delegations from two parallel structures of Sanco.
Alwyn Wittes, the provincial chairperson of Sanco in the Free State, said: ‘The congress was the most complicated one that Sanco had ever had. We had 200 delegates in Free State alone, despite the fact that we were allowed to send 100 delegates.â€
The M&G understands that divisions in Sanco partly emanate from a statement issued by Hlongwane last year calling for Mbeki’s third term in government despite the fact that the NEC had not pronounced on the matter.
At the ANC national congress at Stellenbosch in 2002, Sanco was granted official alliance partner status along with Cosatu and the SACP. But the organisation still does not feel it is a key component of the alliance.
‘Why does the leadership of Cosatu and the SACP at national level undermine their own national decision to assist in building Sanco, and yet have consistently since 2002 voiced their own dissatisfaction over Sanco being a part of the alliance?†Hlongwane asked in his address at the congress.
Northern Cape Sanco secretary Vincent Diraditsa said: ‘We need to get our house in order for us to claim that we are representing communities. We can’t earn respect within the alliance if we continue having problems, which we can’t rectify — For 10 years, we had leadership that was really not up to scratch. It’s a frustrating scenario.â€
Sanco claims it will have a significant influence on the bitter succession battle in the ANC despite the fact that, unlike the ANC Youth League and the Women’s League, it will not send voting delegates to the congress.
Hlongwane claimed that 29% of ANC members were also Sanco members, compared to the 14% who were Cosatu members and 16% who were SACP members. ‘It tells us one thing, and that is Sanco can influence the outcome of the ANC elections in 2007.â€
The impasse means the current, deeply divided NEC will continue running the party until the next congress. If there in anything to run.