/ 3 December 2012

ANC instructs troubled provinces to reconvene

The ANC has instructed Limpopo
The ANC has instructed Limpopo

The Mail & Guardian understands that the ANC national executive council has instructed Limpopo and the Western Cape to reconvene their provincial nomination conferences on Wednesday, following disruptions at the weekend.

An ANC insider told the M&G on Monday that the ANC leaders resolved to reconvene the conferences after several provinces complained about alleged irregularities during the nominations process.

The NEC also referred the North West and the Eastern Cape's complaints to the electoral commission. 

Since the nominations started a few months ago, there have been several complaints by ANC branch members, including in Mpumalanga and the Free State.

In October ANC members aligned to the anti-Zuma group in ­Mpumalanga also accused provincial and regional party leaders of colluding with its auditors to inflate membership figures in a bid to boost President Jacob Zuma's re-election prospects.

Motlanthe's supporters in the Eastern Cape cried foul on Saturday after it emerged that the number of members endorsed at plenary (535) differed from the total number of people who cast their vote (602) at the provincial nominations conference, held at the University of Fort Hare in Alice. An SMS doing the rounds after the conference in the Eastern Cape complained about possible rigging and attempts to sabotage Motlanthe's provinces.

Six disgruntled Free State ANC members approached the Constitutional Court to declare its June provincial conference and "all decisions and/or resolutions adopted there … be declared unlawful and set aside" and suggested that as many as 400 of the 750 voting delegates at the provincial conference were "tainted" – rendering the outcomes there illegitimate.

From the preliminary judgment the Constitutional Court gave the legal teams three options to consider: to disband the current provincial executive committee (PEC), headed by Ace Magashule, and allow a national task to investigate, which would mean no participation in the national conference; a 50/50 representation of both groups, namely Magashule and Mxolisi Dukwana's groups, at the national conference; or to reinstate the previous PEC, of which Sibongile Besani was the provincial secretary.

The decision by the Constitutional Court is expected on Wednesday.

 The ANC holds its national elective conference in two weeks' time in Mangaung.