Mahikeng - Four African National Congress (ANC) regional structures in North West province have appealed to the national leadership to allow the provincial executive committee [PEC] to complete its term.
"We call on the NEC [National Executive Committee] to respect the constitution by allowing the current PEC to complete the remaining six months of their constitutional term of office and ensure that the change of leadership in the province remains the democratic preserve of branches through a conference and not through some factional strongmen flexing their muscles in the NWC [National Working Committee] or NEC," the regions said in a joint statement.
The ANC NEC last week dissolved the North West provincial executive committee and established a provincial task team headed by North West premier Job Mokgoro.
The regions - Dr Kenneth Kaunda, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Ngaka Modiri Molema and Bojanala - said they respect the authority of the NWC, and NEC and that they would respect their decisions at all times.
"As disciplined members, we stand resolutely against factional decisions taken to exert intra-party political regime change to cultivate ground to ensure handsome reward for factional lieutenants who were campaigning for the victorious presidential campaign in Nasrec."
They slammed the national leadership for what they termed "selective consideration of facts" and further claimed NWC members who visited the province were biased towards their aligned comrades.
"We, as regional structures, refuse to embrace this backdoor entrenchment of a faction guised as intervention by NWC."
"Instead of us focusing our energies in the implementation of Thuma-Mina and elections programmes for the divisive victory of the movement in the 2019 general elections, we will be ready at all times to work with everybody in our movement who embraces unity but we shall shun any attempt by anyone to claim cheap factional victories by ripping our movement apart."
Meanwhile, alliance partner the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) in North West said it welcomed the dissolution of the PEC.
"We patiently give the ANC a chance to deal with its internal matters which were to affect the forthcoming national election if not been attended. We are happy today that NEC has disbanded the PEC.
"We are supporting the decision of ANC NEC as an alliance, however, we don't want to see a situation whereby the PTT [provincial task team] will be factionalised because it won't be able to address issues of people of NW and be able to drive a campaign of the election. We also want to see all alliance included on the PTT to strengthen alliance relations and address all issues of people of North West," said provincial secretary Job Dliso.