ANC membership up by 127 000

2010-09-21 11:06

Durban - The ANC's membership has grown by 127 875 since December 2007 with KwaZulu-Natal registering the biggest gains.

This is contained in the organisational report presented by African National Congress general secretary Gwede Mantashe during the first day of the five-day ANC national general council in Durban on Monday evening.

The ANC has more than 700 000 members and it wants to reach one million members by 2012.

The ANC membership in KwaZulu-Natal grew by 89 876, North West by 10 558 and Gauteng by 10 396, he said.

In Limpopo membership rose from 88 920 in October 2009 to the current 101 971.

Mantashe said membership in Mpumalanga membership had declined by 19 683, Free State by 19 683 and Northern Cape by 140.

He said membership in the Northern Cape had declined from 44 000 to 37 122 after the defection of the former ANC provincial secretary to the Congress of the People (Cope).

The defection of councillors to Cope created a terrible headache for the ruling party.

"Many of these cases were difficult to handle as they ended up in courts. These councillors were determined to advance the interests of Cope from within the councils, using council resources to undermine the ANC," he said.

He said the attempt to lure those who had defected back to the ANC had collapsed.

Mantashe said the Imvuselelo Campaign was re-launched in May 2010 in Mpumalanga to make sure the ruling party reached a membership of one million.

- SAPA