The University of the Free State's (UFS) Professor Sethulego Matebesi tells OFM News that a structure such as the Interim Provincial Committee (IPC), which has been at loggerheads with scores of disgruntled members about its life span, will always find itself in such a situation. He says as much as it's difficult to genuinely say why there has been a delay to this conference which is set to elect the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC), factors such as delegates failing to attend the conference due to political differences play a role. Matebesi says it’s not going to be an outright move that all delegates will vote for the current ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa at the party’s 55th National Elective Conference at Nasrec in December 2022.

“It cannot be an outright outcome that this will benefit the Cyril Ramaphosa [faction] because maybe they will need the votes from the Free State - no matter how few votes he may get from this province - but definitely every vote will count and it’s also not good for the presidency for things to go on like this,” Matebesi adds.

The party has been heavily criticised by scores of irate members who accuse it of concocting a plan to go to the conference as a non-voting province. This is allegedly due to the IPC, which is led by a Ramaphosa ally, Mxolisi Dukwana, who is the convenor of the IPC, who allegedly fears that Ramaphosa's detractors will emerge victorious at its Free State provincial conference.

This comes after the ANC’s IPC spokesperson, Oupa Khoabane, announced this week that the party will not hold its provincial elective conference as planned. Khoabane said the conference will not be held this weekend, in accordance with the roadmap, but that a new date will be set for late October, once the IPC sits to review the roadmap.

“As a result, we will like to convey our sincere apologies for this inconvenience. We will announce a reviewed roadmap in due course," Khoabane added.

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In July 2022, disgruntled ANC members dragged the party’s IPC to the Free State High Court on a matter of urgency. ANC Branch 29 Secretary in Mangaung, Ditaba Mokhutle, said that they were seeking a court judgment against the IPC, to be dissolved. He said a number of factors have since ignited the court move and those include the failure to prepare and organise a provincial party conference. Mokhutle said another factor is that the IPC's nine-month lifespan has lapsed.

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However, in a twist of events, the two parties then struck a deal which included the disbandment of the Mangaung Interim Regional Structure (IRC). Senior counsel (SC) Dali Mpofu, who represented the ANC's irate members, indicated to Judge Corné van Zyl that the parties agreed that no ANC branch will be dissolved by the ANC’s IPC. The parties also agreed to develop a road map which is set to prepare and direct them to the next provincial conference this year. The matter was not even argued before Judge van Zyl.

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ANC upper structures, including the PECs and IPCs, were required to hold their provincial conferences in June, in preparation for the national conference in December this year. The IPC in the Free State has been embroiled in party factional battles recently.

OFM News