Gwede Mantashe has admitted that the majority of ANC branches were in disarray, becoming active only during conferences and elections.
Disgruntled Free State branch members have threatened to take the ANC to court for not allowing them to vote in the Mangaung conference.
Top alliance leaders Trevor Manuel, Zwelinzima Vavi and Jeremy Cronin have declined nominations to serve on the party’s national executive committee.
A frosty contest is expected at Mangaung as the "cold war" between Jacob Zuma and Kgalema Motlanthe escalates.
KwaZulu-Natal insiders say Zweli Mkhize, once a close ally of President Jacob Zuma, is aware of the campaign to kick him out of the province.
Supporters of Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe have vowed to fight for him to take over as ANC president at the party’s elective conference.
Jacob Zuma is almost certain to be re-elected to the ANC’s most powerful position after receiving overwhelming support from the party’s branches.
Cash and cars are allegedly being used to get into the youth league’s upper echelons, writes Charles Molele and Matuma Letsoalo.
Kgalema Motlanthe will have himself to blame if he is not elected ANC leader in Mangaung next month, Zuma’s supporters have told the M&G.
The DA’s federal congress has shown Helen Zille has made small but solid gains in the party as she guns for Gauteng at the 2014 national elections.