‘Our bank accounts are empty’ – ANC mulls postponing W Cape conference

ANC NEC Western Cape deployee Alvin Botes said it’s likely that the Western Cape ANC conference will be postponed. FILE

ANC NEC Western Cape deployee Alvin Botes said it’s likely that the Western Cape ANC conference will be postponed. FILE

Published Aug 21, 2022

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WHILE ANC bigwigs are mulling postponing the Western Cape 9th elective conference, provincial party bosses remained adamant that it should go ahead, fanning doubts about its tentative path to reform.

Plans to go to conference on the weekend of August 31 are marred by snags which include allegations of “branch theft” (buying votes and inflating membership numbers) and fiscal woes.

Co-ordinator of the Interim Provincial Committee (IPC), Lerumo Kalako, also revealed the party had “financial constraints” as businesses and donors no longer wanted to be associated with the ANC.

Kalako said they could no longer host events as they once did to raise funds.

“We struggle with money for our programmes because donors are no longer keen,” he told Weekend Argus, adding that “we usually get money from business, we must declare and put the name of that business in our books”.

“Businesses do not want us, they choose to not contribute anything, that puts a constraint on the party’s finances.”

He, however, said so far the party was able to pay its bills including salaries but some staff members were on the Luthuli House payroll.

“There is no organisation that doesn’t run on resources, especially finance, you have to run many programmes and they all need money, even paying for rent, telephone lines and water all these things need money,“ Kalako said.

Kalako said the bill for the provincial conference would be footed by Luthuli House which is also plagued by cash flow problems.

ANC NEC Western Cape deployee Alvin Botes said the organisers were working to avoid litigation against the provincial conference.

"We will ensure that we are very meticulous with doing the work of the ANC so that we don’t get any court processes at the provincial conference.

"We are going to probably make a submission to the secretary general’s office for the time lines for the Western Cape (conference) to be reviewed,“ he said.

“Given the fact that it is unlikely to convene the provincial conference based on our assessment of the work to be done and us erring on the side of precaution because we really want to be meticulous.”

The conference was initially planned to go ahead before July but was postponed to August 31.

An interim leadership structure has been in place since 2019 after the provincial executive committee was disbanded.

The ANC’s constitution stipulates provincial conferences should occur every four years before the national elective conference, meaning any province which overstays its electoral mandate was automatically rendered illegal.

Kalako insisted that the province was on track to elect new leadership.

"The time frames are not changing, nothing has changed.

“There are issues of branch general meetings, but that is because verification is done by national," Kalako said.

As many as 284 branches are required to be in good standing before conference can proceed, but insiders state that only 151 meet the criteria so far.

Weekend Argus previously reported that it reliably learned that the NEC wanted to reduce the threshold.

A source within the province’s structure confirmed this, stating Botes pitched the “ridiculous idea” to the provincial working committee.

“They want to go to conference by hook and crook,” the source said.

“They want to lower the threshold to 166… It’s unconstitutional.”

NEC member Lindiwe Zulu told Weekend Argus that would go against the party’s constitution.

“The constitution is never adjusted whenever someone wants that,” Zulu said.

“If there’s anything that needs to be adjusted, it’s a whole process.”

Zulu said every province has been told to get their house in order.

“They were told to get their act together and their branches in order and in good standing.”

But both Kalako and Botes rubbished the claims, adding the province would conform to the ANC’s constitution.

“No threshold will be lowered for the Western Cape, the Western Cape must conform to the minimum requirements.

“The convening of branch general meetings is the key issue that we are working on,” Botes said.

So far only one of the province’s regions have held a conference.

The Central Karoo region was meant to convene it’s conference last week but was postponed to early September.

Boland and Overberg are expected to take place next weekend.

Weekend Argus.