The ANC’s national executive committee disbanded the North West provincial executive committee on Friday, ending a protracted battle between the provincial leadership and the Polokwane-elected NEC.
Three NEC members told the Mail & Guardian the dissolution of the provincial committee had been supported by 90% of the NEC.
‘It was a forgone conclusion,†said one.
‘Taking it to the NEC meeting was just a formality.â€
The NEC sources said the North West leadership had been given the boot because the province was ‘unstableâ€.
‘ANC leaders are divided right up to the municipalities. That has harmed the functionality of the municipalities,†said the NEC source, who spoke to the M&G on condition of anonymity .
NEC members in the province will take charge until a provincial task team is appointed and a fresh provincial conference is held to install a new leadership team.
‘The PTT should be given a clear direction to rebuild the structures and then organise an early provincial conference within the next nine months,†read a recommendation from a report compiled by the ANC’s national working committee.
The Western Cape’s executive committee was also dissolved at the same meeting.
The decision to disband the Western Cape’s committee was apparently reached within minutes, but the North West matter was discussed for over two hours. NEC members Billy Masetlha and Zweli Mkhize are said to have questioned why the provincial committee should be disbanded if it was never engaged on problems or offered assistance to resolve the province’s challenges.
The M&G has learnt that former provincial chairperson Nono Maloyi walked out as soon as the decision had been taken, but former provincial secretary Supra Mahumapelo stayed on until the proceedings were completed. Both Maloyi and Mahumapelo were back in the province on Saturday to prepare for a provincial general council meeting, scheduled to take place at the Ben Maree Hall in Rustenburg on Sunday.
A former North West PEC member who preferred to remain anonymous said the dissolution had nothing to do with problems faced by municipalities, but was ‘a fall-out from Polokwane”.
”We are being punished for supporting [former president] Thabo Mbeki,†said the source.
The North West overwhelmingly supported Mbeki in his bid for a third term as ANC president.
There are already concerns within the NEC that the ousted committee members might make a comeback at the provincial conference, as resistance to the dissolution is building up.
ANC members from several branches held a vigil at the Getrude Mphekwa House — the party’s provincial office in Mafikeng — on Friday. More vigils have been planned in support of the ousted provincial leaders.
A national executive member told the M&G that the provincial committee should have served a full term.
‘This PEC will come back as it is, the same people who elected them will put them back in power.â€