Johannesburg – Mpumalanga’s deadline to hold its overdue 13th provincial elective conference has been postponed to the end of July after the province failed to hold the gathering by last weekend’s deadline.
The province was given until June 18 to hold its congress to find Deputy President David Mabuza’s successor in Mpumalanga after earlier attempts failed.
The ANC now only has two weeks to try and convene 145 branch general meetings (BGMs) to reach the 70% threshold needed for congress to sit.
The province has been able to make a mere 33% of the 400 branches convene so far, which led to the June deadline being extended to July.
This is one of the many times the conference date has been moved.
This year alone it was moved three times; first in March, then in June and now to July, owing to violent disruptions in BGMs and difficulties encountered to reach quorum.
Sunday World this week saw the preliminary BGM reports for Mpumalanga’s three regions released by organising head Nomvula Mokonyane to the province a week ago.
The reports show the Ehlanzeni region only held 46 BGMs of a total of 130 branches (35%), Nkangala, Mpumalanga’s largest ANC region by number of branches, only had 49 of the 143 branches meet, which represents 34% of its branches, while Gert Sibande only managed to hold 34% of its BGMs.
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Mpumalanga needs at least 280 branches to reach the 70% quorum.
So far, only 135 branches have qualified and the province needs 145 more to reach quorum, which leaders hope will be reached within two weeks when branches that failed hold a rerun.
Five candidates are contesting the position of ANC provincial chairperson – four of whom are contesting on the so-called anti-Mabuza tickets.
One of them, acting provincial chairperson Mandla Ndlovu, is reportedly leading the race.
Ndlovu was nominated by most of the 135 branches that have met so far, with premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane commanding few votes behind Ndlovu and Mabuza’s favoured candidate, Nkangala district municipal speaker Lucky Ndinisa, who is believed to have the fewest number of branches, behind him.
Other candidates include former provincial deputy chairperson David Dube and current Deputy Tourism Minister Fish Mahlalela. Mtshweni-Tsipane’s lobbyist Thabang Mathebula said the whole of the eMalahleni sub-region to which the premier and acting provincial secretary Lindiwe Ntshalintshali belong, didn’t qualify due to “thugs who were rented to disrupt all the meetings”.
“The provincial contests and the local government elections make it hard to make a branch sit,” Mathebula said. Mpumalanga is divided between those aligned to suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mabuza.
Ndlovu’s camp is seen as being aligned to Magashule, with most leaders mentioned in slates saying that the step aside resolution now tends to be seen as a “political attack” on Magashule.
Mtshweni-Tsipane is aligned to Ramaphosa. She recently snubbed a government event addressed by Mabuza, but last week attended one addressed by Ramaphosa’s ally, Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe.
By Zama Khumalo.
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