Sensation will not defocus us, says ANC North West

Rustenburg - The African National Congress (ANC) will not be drawn away from its mission of unity and renewal of the province, the party said on Monday.

"No amount of sensation will defocus the ANC in Bokone Bophirima [North West] from its mission of unity and renewal in the province," said Gerald Modise, ANC provincial spokesperson. "As a province, we are crystal clear that there is a concerted effort by some ANC members within the province and in other parts of the country to discredit, isolate and destroy the good standing of our provincial chairperson, Cde SOR [Supra] Mahumapelo.

"As the collective leadership of Bokone Bophirima, we rally behind our provincial chairperson and we thank him for continuing to be a humbled, disciplined and exemplary leader of the ANC. The provincial chairperson was never at the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati regional conference and it’s clear that opportunists use his name to elevate themselves politically, while the truth is that they’re simply attention-seeking activists."

Cracks in the ANC widened at the weekend when two regional conferences were held in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati. One group was in Taung and another in Christiana.

"We are also aware that some members of the movement in that region who claim to be the REC [regional executive committee], are part of the programme by those who failed to accept the democratic processes of the ANC. Their issues will be attended to, in line with the constitution of the ANC," he said.

The ANC endorsed the Christiana conference, and in a statement, Modise said: "We congratulate and commend the delegates of this region for such a successful conference, which was also overseen by PEC [provincial executive committee and NEC [national executive committee] deployees."

He said the PEC meeting on Monday morning also focused on the intensification of the programme to win all the three by-elections taking place in Mahikeng ward 19, Moses Kotane ward 21 and Lekwa Teemane ward 7 in the coming months.

The ANC also announced that it had resolved to establish a team comprising of seasoned comrades to facilitate a process of organisational renewal and building unity in the province. The team is made of  former education MEC OJ Tselapedi, Sophy Maine and Simon Rantao.

Former Rustenburg mayor, Matthews Wolmarans, is the chairperson of the provincial dispute resolution committee, and his team include Tselapedi, Maine, Manketsi Tlhape and Barei Segotso.

The committee is tasked with processing and resolving disputes emanating from branch general meetings that will be convened for the party's list processes.

African News Agency (ANA)