Durban - The ANC has confirmed that its much anticipated National General Council, which had initially been planned for 26 to 30 June, will now be held from July 30 to August 03, 2020, due to party president Cyril Ramaphosa’s international commitments.
The change of date was announced in a letter from ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule addressed to all ANC NEC members and provincial secretaries and secretaries of the party’s leagues. The letter was circulated on social media on Tuesday.
“The ANC President will be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting which will take place on 26th and 27th June in Kigali, Rwanda, and therefore the National General Council can no longer be held on the 26th to 30th June,” Magashule wrote.
When asked to confirm whether the letter to the party’s structures had emanated from Magashule’s office, ANC NEC member Dakota Legoete, simply answered: “Yes.”
With growing discontent within the ruling ANC over the party’s inability to implement several of its resolutions taken at its 54th national conference in December 2017, in Nasrec, the NGC is widely expected to become the battle between those opposed to Ramaphosa and those fighting in his corner.
There has been widespread speculation regarding Ramaphosa’s future going into the NGC, with suggestions that a faction intends making a play to remove him as the party’s president at the gathering.
Last year ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Sihle Zikalala warned against the alleged plot to oust Ramaphosa at the NGC and urged party members to head to the NGC to discuss party’s policies instead.
At the time Zikalala said: “The national general council does not elect. It is a process where we take stock of what would have emerged before and the progress on the implementation.”
Last month ANC Northern Cape leader Zamani Saul joined Zikalala in warning against the plot to unseat Ramaphosa, saying that the NGC should be used to unite the ANC and not be turned into a platform for internal factions to flex their muscles.
“We hope that the NGC will not provide a platform for factional activities,” Saul said.