The scheduled start of the ANC’s Dr WB Rubusana region elective conference in East London on Wednesday morning was marred by a number of glitches, including delays in the registration process.
Registration of delegates at the Orient Theatre was meant to start at about 8am, according to a statement issued by the Eastern Cape ANC on Tuesday.
The three-day conference, which is due to run until Friday, was expected to kick off at 10am at the nearby East London City Hall.
However, by 2pm, the registration of delegates was yet to start while at about 6pm, many party members were still gathered outside the registration venue, with some yet to obtain their accreditation cards.
The ANC said the delays were also caused by three branch meeting disputes which had not yet been resolved by the party’s provincial dispute resolution committee (PDRC).
ANC provincial spokesperson Yanga Zicina said late on Wednesday that “logistical challenges” had resulted in delays.
Addressing the media at about 4pm, Zicina confirmed that three disputes were still before the PDRC.
The conference, initially scheduled for May, was shelved repeatedly in recent months amid disputes over how branch general meetings had been conducted.
Some disputes were dealt with by the PDRC and resolved, while others had to be escalated to the national dispute resolution committee and later to the party’s national appeals committee.
“It is those appeals that have delayed us, but for now, we are satisfied that as an organisation we have been able to deal with those issues extensively, to an extent that this morning [Wednesday], the PDRC was only dealing with three branch disputes, and we are confident that these will be concluded before we proceed,” Zicina said.
The PDRC is working overtime to ensure those disputes are concluded.
— ANC provincial spokesperson Yanga Zicina
The ANC’s provincial executive committee deployee to the Rubusana region, Siyabulela Zangqa, confirmed that all disputes taken to the national dispute resolution bodies had been dealt with.
“Currently, there is nothing before the NDRC or NDRCA. It’s just these three disputes that are before the PDRC.
“The PDRC is working overtime to ensure those disputes are concluded,” Zangqa said late on Wednesday.
Zicina said he was unsure whether the voting for a new regional leadership would take place late on the first night of conference, as was the norm, or on Thursday, because of the delayed start.
Meanwhile, members of Gauteng-based security company Red Ants Security Services, which has stirred controversy over the years for overseeing forced evictions across SA, including in BCM recently, were observed guarding the conference registration venues.
Asked why a private security company from outside the Eastern Cape had been hired, Zicina and Zangqa pleaded ignorance.
“We are not aware who and why such a private security company was contracted.
“But Gauteng is still South Africa, and I do not see anything wrong if a company from there [Gauteng] is contracted, as we would also like to see our companies from the province doing some work in those provinces,” Zicina said.
He said later that the party had, in fact, contracted a security company from the Eastern Cape, which sub-contracted the Red Ants.
By 7pm on Wednesday, the conference was yet to commence.
Daily Dispatch
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.