Johannesburg - The ANC in Gauteng has halted the convening of regional conferences in the province which were scheduled to take place this weekend, confirming earlier reports. The province said it held a meeting on Tuesday with provincial officials, deployees and the dispute resolution committee which confirmed that the conferences that were scheduled to take place this weekend have been cancelled.
ANC Gauteng provincial secretary Hope Papo said all regional conferences should now take place between June 29 and July 8, before the province can hold a provincial conference. Papo said the party was confident that regional conferences and the provincial conference could be held by the end of July, the deadline the National Executive Committee had set for all regional and provincial conferences to be held.
There was confusion earlier in the week when ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule told the media that all regional conference scheduled to be held in Gauteng this weekend had been cancelled. However, some ANC members had disputed Magashule’s statements. ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe also denied that Magashule had said the conferences were cancelled.
The ANC Gauteng’s statement on Wednesday confirmed that indeed it would not be holding conferences. Papo said of the 472 branches in the province, 70% had held branch general meetings and branch biennial general meetings. The cancellation of the conferences is set to give the remaining 53 branches an opportunity to hold meetings in preparation for the provincial conference and regional conferences.
Other ANC provincial structures are also due to hold regional and provincial conferences. The ANC in Limpopo is due to hold its provincial conference this weekend, but a disgruntled grouping has threatened to apply for a court interdict if the conference goes ahead as planned. The KwaZulu-Natal ANC’s provincial conference, which was scheduled to take place two weeks ago, was interdicted when disgruntled regions approached the courts.
It’s not clear yet when the KZN conference will be held. The provincial conferences which were held in the Free State and the Eastern Cape have also come under question with ANC members there also threatening to take the party to court. Magashule has spoken out against ANC members that have chosen to take the party to court instead of exhausting internal processes.