The ANC in Mpumalanga has sounded the alarm to Luthuli House, pleading for urgent political intervention amid deepening chaos in the province’s Women’s League, just days after Sunday World lifted the lid on allegations of rigged branch meetings and internal mutiny.
In a letter dated November 12, provincial secretary Muzi Chirwa implores the national leadership to step in, warning that the situation has reached a breaking point and that the organisation’s women’s wing faces “total deterioration” if urgent measures are not taken.
Addressed to ANC Women’s League secretary-general Nokuthula Ngaba and copied to ANCWL provincial task team (PTT) coordinator and Economic Development MEC Jesta Sidell, the correspondence concedes that the women’s league’s work on the ground “has not achieved the rebuilding and stability” promised across all three regions of Nkangala, Gert Sibande and Ehlanzeni.
“The membership of the ANCWL in the branches has largely been excluded from the conference processes,” wrote Chirwa.
“The convening of branch general meetings was not fully communicated to branches and was not properly done, leading to allegations of delegates being appointed by phone.”
The letter also reveals that the women’s league’s own provincial task team is divided, with members unable to agree on the state of readiness for the upcoming provincial conference scheduled to take place on a date still to be determined.
Chirwa notes that even within the PTT, there is no collective agreement about whether the structures are ready to elect new leadership, contradicting an earlier report presented to ANC officials on November 10.
“The request is that the ANCWL secretary-general consider political intervention in this situation to avoid total deterioration,” he wrote.
The letter follows mounting disquiet within the women’s league after angry members from Mpumalanga held a night vigil outside Luthuli House in July to protest about alleged manipulation of branch meetings.
The women accused Sidell of presiding over a chaotic process in which branch general meetings were allegedly held in private homes and membership forms were completed outside official channels.
The accusations were backed by a leaked voice note from Gert Sibande regional task team coordinator Mapaseka Molaba, who pleaded with Sidell to “intervene” and halt what she described as manipulated meetings that were “getting out of control”.
Sidell dismissed the claims in an earlier interview with Sunday World, describing them as a witch-hunt driven by disgruntled league members.
“We welcome any disputes, but how do you seek to lodge a dispute in processes of the ANC when you can’t produce proof that you are a member?” she asked.
She insisted that her team had been following national directives to rebuild the league after its disbandment in 2022.
But the provincial secretary’s letter paints a picture of disarray and open rebellion.
It also questions the compressed timeframe for branch meetings between October 15 and November 2, saying it made fair participation impossible.
The latest development now places the women’s league’s provincial elective conference, expected to elect new leadership for the first time since 2019, in jeopardy.
For now, all eyes are on Luthuli House to determine whether it will heed Chirwa’s call to rescue the women’s structure before the crisis spills into the ANC’s own provincial conference set for next month.
