Independent Newspapers

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi.

The ANC has denied holding discussions about disbanding its Limpopo provincial executive committee (PEC) during its national executive committee (NEC) meeting at the weekend.

“There was no discussion to disband the PEC. The Limpopo team tabled a report on the province and recommended that the PEC continue as normal,” ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday.

“They are investigating the disputes and will table the outcomes once they are done,” he said.

The Times reported on Friday that Cassel Mathale's leadership of the ANC in Limpopo had come under scrutiny at the NEC meeting.

The NEC reportedly discussed allegations that Mathale and his allies stole votes at the provincial conference in December.

Mathale was still regarded as the ANC's chairman in the province. “The ANC has no case against Cassel Mathale,” Mantashe said.

Mantashe said the NEC discussed several important issues related to the party during its meeting.

“Given the fact that this was our first meeting and the fact that this will be the busiest year in the political calendar of the ANC, we addressed a number of crucial issues,” he said.

“The meeting considered discussion documents for the policy conference and also discussed the building of a capable state and building a vibrant ANC.”

He said the NEC had finalised the dates for both its policy and national conferences.

The national policy conference will take place between June 26

and 29 at Gallagher Estate near Midrand, Gauteng. The national conference will be between December 16 and 20 in Mangaung.

The party had confirmed the creation of a national co-ordinating committee which would be responsible for the preparations for both events.

Mantashe said the NEC also discussed the ANC's centenary celebrations in Mangaung at the beginning of the year.

“The meeting acknowledged that Mangaung centenary celebrations was a resounding success,” he said.

“The centenary confirmed the ANC as a home for everyone. It allowed everyone to celebrate in the way they saw fit.”

Mantashe said the NEC had received a number of draft policy documents and had circulated them to its branches in preparation for the policy conference.

He confirmed that one of the documents proposed the party's stance on the nationalisation of mines.

“This is a research report, not a sub-committee report. People want a pronouncement on it, but we are still currently studying it,” Mantashe said.

“The public must be patient on the matter. We need the participation of everyone to comment on it... we need to consider a wide-range of society.”

The City Press reported on Sunday that the ANC had considered rejecting the nationalisation of the sector because it was not affordable.

The document reportedly found that government needed to raise R1 trillion to buy out listed mining companies.

Turning to the suspension of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, Mantasha said this sanction would come into effect only once the mitigation process of his sentence was complete.

“There should be no confusion. We have decided to delay everything from kicking in until the processes are completed,” he said.

“If we wanted to be legalistic, the 2010 suspension would have taken effect, but we will wait two weeks for the mitigation. Delaying the kicking in is part of certain political considerations and not legal considerations.” - Sapa