ANC W Cape conference only in 2011
2010-12-14 19:12
Cape Town - The African National Congress will hold its much-delayed Western Cape provincial conference only after next year's local government polls, a party official said on Tuesday.
Mbulelo Mbala, a member of the caretaker task team running the party in the province, was speaking at a media briefing in Cape Town.
"It will be sometime next year," he said.
"We all understand that next year we are going for the local government elections, so the ANC and its allied forces, they are busy campaigning for the local government elections for next year.
"Then after that, we'll have time to set a date for the conference."
Until only days ago, the task team had been maintaining that the conference would be held before the end of this year.
The Western Cape ANC has been crippled by factionalism and ongoing leadership struggles.
Its Boland regional conference at the weekend was marred by a walkout by supporters of former provincial chairperson Mcebisi Skwatsha, who is expected to square up against Deputy Minister of International Relations Marius Fansman for the leadership of the province.
Skwatsha's executive was disbanded by the ANC's national executive committee because of infighting, and the task team set up under the leadership of former labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana.
The lack of coherence in the party cost it the province in the 2009 general election, and is likely to hamper its attempts to win ground from the Democratic Alliance in next year's local polls.
On the eve of the Boland conference a Western Cape Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) office-bearer attacked minister in the presidency Trevor Manuel, for perceived favouritism towards Fransman.
The attack, by MKMVA provincial secretary Desmond Stevens, followed a meeting two weeks ago at which Manuel was reported to have expressed himself strongly against any bid by Skwatsha to reclaim his position.
Mbala, who is also the MKMVA national deputy chairperson, said on Tuesday that the association condemned both Stevens' attack and the walkout from the conference.
"We will not allow that the MKMVA name be besmirched with such opportunism and will expose the nefarious intentions behind such vitriolic drivel," he said.
"We want to know and expose the intent of those who consider themselves so mighty that they are above organisational discipline and procedures."
MKMVA Western Cape chairperson Meshack Mochele said the provincial executive would sit down with Stevens and other comrades to hear their point of view.
"We need to give them the benefit of the doubt so that we take correct measures," he said.
- SAPA
