Eastern Cape ANC faces fresh setback ahead of November 4

The ANC’s preparations for the local government elections in the Eastern Cape are facing fresh turbulence, with disgruntled members from dozens of branches set to march on the party’s provincial headquarters on Monday.

At issue are allegations of manipulation of branch meetings and candidate nomination processes.

The planned protest adds to the factional battles threatening to derail the party’s campaign ahead of the November 4 polls.

The ANC in the province is embroiled in legal disputes over the legitimacy of some of its structures and leadership processes, resulting in the postponement of its long-awaited provincial elective conference.

At the centre of the planned march are 11 branches in the Dr WB Rubusana region that are understood to have been involved in the court action that successfully interdicted the provincial conference scheduled for March.

The affected branches are wards 2, 5, 8, 13, 21, 22, 33, 39, 43, 47 and 49.

Party insiders say the dispute revolves around the legitimacy of these branches, an issue that remains unresolved after the court challenges.

“As a result, these branches remain disputed,” one insider said.

“Considering that the provincial conference was halted, the question is how these branches could continue to be managed or led by structures whose own legitimacy status is in question.

“There was never a final verification report to conclusively prove the legitimacy of these branches.”

The tensions are being fuelled by disputes in at least 22 other branches in the same region, where members have raised concerns over candidate nomination processes, alleged manipulation of branch general meetings (BGMs) and controversies surrounding proportional representation nomination lists.

A Ward 5 ANC member said the branch’s grievances stemmed from what members believed was a lack of legitimacy in its current leadership structures and irregularities in branch processes.

The ward includes Scenery Park and Haven Hills in the Buffalo City Metro.

“Our view is that the branch is not legitimate,” the member said.

“Remember, all processes relating to the election of candidates are supposed to be conducted by branch executive committees.

“Our BEC [branch executive committee] is not legitimate.”

He claimed that during a branch general meeting in March, the regional executive committee (REC) invoked Rule J82 of the ANC constitution guidelines and effectively took control of processes that should have remained in the hands of the branch.

“The entire process, including the scanning of members, was not done by the BEC but by the region.

“That was not constitutionally sound because the rule they invoked only allows the REC to supervise branches, not take over their functions.

“We disputed that process.”

Another insider at Ward 2 alleged membership records remained a source of contention.

“We also have more than 150 members who do not appear on the data system.

“We have a serious issue with data in the ANC.

“We lodged an appeal with the national dispute resolution committee, but to date we have not received either a hearing or even an acknowledgement of our appeal.

“Despite this, the same BEC continues to preside over matters affecting the branch.”

She said concerns about the legitimacy of branch processes were heightened after a verification report circulated on March 16 allegedly failed to include the ward.

“This suggests that the synchronisation process had not been completed. Yet the BEC continues to act as though nothing happened.”

Another insider said the stakes within the branch were particularly high ahead of the elections and questioned the impartiality of those overseeing branch affairs.

“Remember, the interests in the branch are very high.

“We are being presided over by the same BEC that we have a dispute with, which further raises concerns among members about fairness and impartiality.”

Meanwhile, a Ward 27 insider said their dispute centred on what members believed was a flawed candidate nomination process after the ward failed to properly convene community meetings before holding its final branch general meeting.

“Two attempts were made but the problem was that during the first attempt the deployee did not arrive, and during the second attempt there was chaos and the meeting could not proceed.

“The problem we are faced with is that a final BGM was held without the community meetings being properly concluded.

“The final BGM did not even have a deployee from the upper structures present to oversee the process.

“We took the matter to Luthuli House to seek direction, particularly in light of what is happening in the province and the concerns we have about the processes that were followed,” he said.

ANC members from Ward 48 took to the streets two weeks ago to protest against what they described as an abuse of power by their regional leaders.

The protesting members alleged that the region sought a rerun of a branch general meeting candidate nomination process after the ward councillor, allegedly the region’s preferred candidate, failed to secure sufficient support from branch members.

Ward 48 branch executive committee member Fezeka Mayatula said a branch general meeting held on June 16 to nominate candidates descended into chaos after the councillor did not make the cut.

Mayatula said regional leaders overseeing the meeting felt unsafe as tensions rose and left before the process could be concluded.

A second BGM was convened two days later, but the councillor again failed to secure a place among the top four preferred candidates.

The Electoral Commission (IEC) has set an August 1 deadline for political parties to finalise their internal systems and nomination processes.

The ANC’s Eastern Cape elections team co-ordinator, Nanziwe Rulashe-Nesi, said it was not aware of the planned march to Calata House.

“We respect the right of members to raise concerns through appropriate and lawful channels, and we encourage all members to continue engaging through the party’s internal processes,” Rulashe-Nesi said.

Daily Dispatch