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An attempt by some members of the ANC national executive committee (NEC) to disband the party’s Ekurhuleni region failed to gain traction at a special NEC meeting on Thursday evening, leading to a decision to refer disputes about quarantined votes from the region back to the Gauteng provincial executive committee (PEC).
City Press understand that the issue of Ekurhuleni took centre stage when it was brought to the table at the meeting.
However, radical economic transformation (RET)-aligned NEC members allegedly insisted that if the issue of Ekurhuleni was to be discussed, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm scandal should also be discussed at length.
READ: MPs ask Ramaphosa to come clean about theft at his farm
City Press understand that members aligned to RET forces argued that the NEC could not discuss branch issues that were not brought to the table by the PEC.
A NEC member said:
The failure to disband the Ekurhuleni region, which is mired in branch disputes, has again left its five branches in a tight corner.
The PEC, after being instructed by the NEC to settle the disputes, resolved to allow the five branches to participate in the provincial conference that started on Thursday at the Lakes Hotel and Conference Centre in Benoni, albeit with their provincial votes being quarantined as well until the disputes are The PEC which sat on Friday afternoon agreed to allow the five branches whose 19 votes were quarantined at the regional conference last month, that they will also be quarantined until their disputes is completely resolved.
City Press has learnt that the NEC referred the branch disputes to the PEC after it was discovered that the branches did not follow proper channels in lodging their After lodging the disputes and appeals through the dispute resolution committees, the branches went straight to the NEC.
READ: Membership disputes threaten ANC conferences
The 19 quarantined votes have been subject to speculation as they have great impact on the leadership of the region. ANC Ekurhuleni chairperson Mzwandile Masina defeated Doctor Xhakaza by a margin of 12 votes, with rumours abounding that the 19 quarantined votes came were coming from the regions that did not support him.
The quarantined votes might also play a role in deciding who becomes Gauteng chairperson between Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi and Human Settlements MEC Lebogang Maile.
The two are going head-to-head for the position of provincial chairperson to replace the outgoing David Makhura.
READ: ANC provincial conference: Gauteng braces for heated leadership battle
Delegates from the five branches were confident that they were going to help Lesufi win the position.
They believe the Ekurhuleni leadership deliberately sidelined them for fear of losing.
Several branch members who spoke to City Press on condition of anonymity accused the Ekurhuleni leadership of trying to silence their voices.
“We wanted the NEC to deal with the issues, but we’ll have to accept its decision. We are confident that justice will prevail. And when that happens, our votes will count a lot,” said one branch member.
Delegates attending the conference were all singing songs promoting their favourite candidates. Maile’s lobby group was singing a song called Adiwele, while Lesufi supporters sang one called Kukhona Okuzokwenzeka.
ANC delegates in high spirits as they sing and dance at the start of the party's 14th Gauteng Provincial Conference at the Lakes Hotel in Benoni.?? : Rosetta Msimango#ANCGautengConference #CityPress pic.twitter.com/hvDxWVcQs9
— City Press (@City_Press) June 24, 2022
The conference was meant to start on Thursday, but was delayed by a day.
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