Eastern Cape ANC provincial chairperson and premier Oscar Mabuyane on Saturday night took the war directly to his provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi following the interdicted provincial conference that has since been suspended.
In what would have been a conference closing address, which became a Cadres Forum, Mabuyane was bouncing like a tennis ball, falling short of calling Ngcukayitobi a force of the counterrevolution.
‘Counter-revolutionary agenda’
A buoyant Mabuyane, who addressed the would-be provincial conference delegates at the KuGompo ICC, was emphatic about the energy and numerical strength of his supporters, saying it made sense for his opponents to go the court route, because politically, theirs would have been a crushing defeat.
“What may superficially present itself as internal organizational dynamics increasingly reveals itself as part of a broader, coordinated counter-revolutionary agenda,” said Mabuyane to more than a 1 000 of his supporters, who were highly charged, singing songs praising him, with signs of the number three in the air, signaling their wish for his third term as ANC boss in the Home of Legends province.
“We are witnessing a coordinated counter-revolutionary agenda designed to divide, weaken, and ultimately neutralize this province. When the foundation cracks, the entire structure trembles. Therefore, the defense of unity in the Eastern Cape is not a provincial imperative; it is a national strategic necessity.”
Ngcukayitobi ‘working with ANC enemies’
Mabuyane suggested that Ngcukayitobi was in all likelihood working with enemies of the ANC to finish what is left of its strength in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
He said branch members must ask themselves why Ngcukayitobi, who was billed to contest him for the top position, was supported by people from opposition parties of the ANC.
Building up to the interdicted conference, which collapsed before it began after the court ruled, Ngcukayitobi was often propped up by members of the EFF, among others, on social media platforms.
“What is currently underway is not a singular opposition but a convergence of desperate forces, while these forces advance differing ideological justifications, they converge around a singular objective: the removal of the ANC from power” said Mabuyane.
Call for vigilance
“The defense of the revolution requires vigilance not only against external opposition but also against internal weaknesses. The struggle to maintain unity in the Eastern Cape is, in essence, a struggle to defend the very core of the ANC.
“We decisively reject all attempts, whether internal or externally-driven, to divide our province over narrow, pedestrian matters. Unity, discipline, and ideological clarity remain our most potent weapons.”
‘Victory is certain’
Mabuyane told his supporters who filled up the botched conference venue that the conference would have been a “no contest” hence his opponents ran to the courts.
He assured them that the conference would reconvene “before the end of April” after the ANC has satisfied the requirement of the high court interim order by following its conference guidelines to the letter.
After that, the conference would steam ahead, and the victory would be the same person that would have won had the conference proceeded this weekend as originally planned.
“The dynamics they seek to manipulate will not change, because the will of the people is not a passing current; it is a constant, unwavering force. That will remain resolute now and tomorrow, here in the Eastern Cape and across our nation.
“You cannot adjourn the people’s determination. No procedural maneuver, no engineered postponement, can alter the fundamental truth that the masses are behind this movement and that their demand for unity, delivery, and the renewal of the African National Congress will be answered on our terms, in our time, and without surrender.
“But I stand before you today to declare that victory is certain. Not because I say so, but because the people demand it.”
The ANC members who would have been Mabuyane supporters at the conference were told to go home on Monday and work toward ANC victory in the local government elections and rest assured to return to the same venue within the next four weeks.
