Top brass tackling burning ANC issues

THE ANC is holding a special meeting where its national executive committee (NEC) is discussing issues relating to its provincial structures and provincial conferences.

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said yesterday that one of the areas of focus at the one-day meeting was KwaZulu-Natal where‚ he said‚ progress had been made. The party’s biggest province will still hold its conference but Magashule did not give a date.

He also praised the provincial task team (PTT) and NEC deployees to the province‚ saying they were doing well despite a court challenge.

The ANC KwaZulu-Natal elective conference was stopped from taking place two weekends ago when a disgruntled group of party members approached the High Court in Pietermaritzburg to have it interdicted.

The province has been without leadership since 2017‚ when the same court nullified its 2015 elective conference after finding some irregularities. The conference‚ which was meant to be held from June 8-10‚ was meant to be a rerun of the 2015 one.

Regarding the Eastern Cape‚ Magashule said the NEC would be visiting the province.

A group of disgruntled ANC members from the province approached the High Court in Johannesburg in a bid to have a report‚ compiled by a team led by Sbu Ndebele‚ which was set up to probe the outcomes of last year’s Eastern Cape provincial conference‚ enforced.

The Eastern Cape conference‚ held in September‚ turned violent and a group of delegates left the venue. The election of the new provincial leadership went ahead‚ resulting in the election of former secretary Oscar Mabuyane as chairman.

The Ndebele report recommended that the provincial executive committee elected at the conference be suspended and an interim structure be appointed.

The matter was heard in the high court yesterday where judgment was reserved.

Magashule said the special NEC meeting would also be dealing with the appointment of a new North West premier after Supra Mahumapelo was forced to resign.