Johannesburg - The ANC Women’s League has postponed its national elective conference for the umpteenth time.
The league continues to grapple with disputes over branch membership audits and delays in verifying the list of delegates to the conference.
The conference was initially scheduled for April 17 but was postponed to Thursday.
On Monday, the ANC’s national working committee - the party’s highest-decision structure - was in a meeting, trying to find ways to revive its ailing women’s wing structures.
The league’s acting spokeswoman, Khusela Sangoni, said a date for the national conference would be made when the ANC’s national executive committee sits on Friday.
But The Star has reliably learnt that the conference has been moved to May 21.
According to some of the regional leaders, the ANC said the postponement was because of delays in the finalisation of the verification process for the final delegates’ lists.
Only two provinces - KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape - have held their provincial general councils (PGCs).
The difficulties in holding the conference have persisted despite the ANC appointing a task team comprising party bigwigs such as Lindiwe Sisulu, Thulas Nxesi, Thoko Didiza and deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte.
With just less than 10 days before the rescheduled national conference starts, some of the league’s regional leaders said their respective provinces were scrambling to resolve disputes over branch audits and to finalise their candidate lists.
“We have disputes in some branches. We must ensure that those disputing the outcome of BGMs (branch general meetings) are given an opportunity before we go to the PGC,” said a leader from North West.
A Limpopo leader said: “We have branches that haven’t held their branch general meetings. We are also verifying the branch reports to check if they are in good standing.”
A leader from the Western Cape said some of the league’s structures in the province were a shambles. “It would take a miracle for us to meet the (mandatory) 70 percent threshold to allow us to go to the (national) conference,” he said.
Sangoni confirmed that only KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape had held their PGCs. “We expect all the outstanding PGCs to sit during the course of this week and at the weekend,” she said.
Meanwhile, the race for the league’s foremost senior positions is hotting up.
Incumbent president Angie Motshekga will slug it out for the highest position with Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini. KwaZulu-Natal was said to be intensifying its efforts to mobilise other provinces to back Dlamini.
Motshekga remains the front-runner, with Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape among those said to be rallying around her. The league’s Free State provincial chairwoman, Sisi Ntombela, has emerged as the frontrunner for the secretary-general position.
About 3 000 delegates were expected to attend the conference, with about 90 percent comprising branch delegates and the rest drawn from the tripartite alliance, among others. The league last held a national conference in 2009.
The Star