Limpopo ANC conference ready to start
2012-12-05 18:02
Johannesburg - The Limpopo ANC's nomination conference
will start as soon as delegates complete their registration and arrive at the
venue, spokesperson Makonde Mathivha said on Wednesday.
"Everything is going according to plan," he
said.
"Conference is ready to start as soon as people have
finished registering."
The ANC’s national executive committee decided at a
special meeting to allow Limpopo to rerun its provincial general council (PCG)
after it was disrupted on Friday.
The conference was abandoned after a group of
"violent hooligans" wearing T-shirts with President Jacob Zuma's face
printed on them disrupted proceedings, forcing delegates to flee the venue,
Mathivha said.
Limpopo, along with Gauteng, has been one of the
provinces calling for change of leadership in the ANC.
The provincial executive committee (PEC) wanted Deputy
President Kgalema Motlanthe to take over from Zuma.
The official deadline for PGCs was 30 November.
Six NEC were deployed to the province.
Earlier, Limpopo provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane
said NEC members deployed to assist with reconvening the provincial nomination
conference would not be welcome because they had vested interests.
However, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said the NEC's
decision on any matter, including deployments to Limpopo to resolve nomination
problems, was binding.
"Such an irresponsible and un-ANC statement does not
only undermine the decision of the NEC, it also fails to acknowledge that the
NEC carries full responsibility for the success of the pending 53rd national
conference," he said.
"It is not up to the provincial secretary comrade
Soviet Lekganyane to decide whether to accept the decision of NEC or not; the
NEC will not be prevented from fulfilling its constitutional mandate."
He said the ANC reserved the right to investigate and
institute charges against any member of the party "that instigates
against" a standing decision of the organisation.
The Young Communist League of SA (YCLSA) in Limpopo believed
the disruption at Friday's conference was orchestrated by the province’s ANC
leadership.
"Surely had the PGC took place, the leadership of
the ANC was going to face [a] high level of embarrassment when branches speak
in one language and voicing their support for President [Jacob] Zuma and
secretary-general [Gwede] Mantashe," YCLSA provincial secretary Bashin
Magoma said in a statement.
"This was not only going to humiliate the supposed
leadership of the ANC, but also an indication that the current provincial
leadership does not enjoy popular support of the people of this province."
Magoma said the YCLSA was also disturbed by the ANC Youth
League in the province's derogatory remarks about Zuma and Mantashe.
These remarks were being supported by the provincial
leadership, who were unable to condemn unruly behaviour in public as a way of
instilling discipline in the organisation, he said.
The YCLSA urged ANC branches and structures in Limpopo to
adhere to the party's principles and discipline.
Magoma called on the NEC of the ANC to not only take over
the process of the PGC, but to take over the ANC in the province as well.
- SAPA
