The party further refuted claims that it denied disgruntled or irate party members from the Lejweleputswa region access to the venue. According to the ANC’s Interim Provincial Committee’s (IPC) Oupa Khoabane, the municipality’s security was regulating entry into their building. Khoabane says there was no indication at the meeting that there were people who wanted to meet the IPC.

“The conference of Lejweleputswa was endorsed by the IPC, not Dukwana. It was a decision of the IPC that endorsed the convention of the conference,” Khoabane further added.

Khoabane was responding to allegations made by the ANC branch chairperson, Raleting Motati, in ward 8 in the Matjhabeng sub-region of Lejweleputswa, that the ANC’s IPC and its convener, Mxolisi Dukwana, was endorsing irregularities, including the alleged rigging of the conference that was allegedly overlooked ahead of the Lejweleputswa 9th elective regional conference weeks ago.

ALSO READ: ANC supporters protesting against IPC in Welkom – VIDEO

Motati said Dukwana had given his word that the Lejweleputswa conference would not take place in the midst of these allegations. Motati added that the IPC on Thursday brought heavily armed private security officers.

Earlier ANC members disrupted another IPC meeting in Mangaung. 

In a video shared widely on social media, people wearing ANC regalia are heard telling Dukwana that he is the problem within the Free State ANC. Though it is not understood what the source of the anger was towards him, many of them are criticising his style of leadership. Dukwana has previously been labelled as President Cyril Ramaphosa's ally.

The IPC has thus failed in four attempts to hold its provincial elective conference as planned, citing various reasons.

The party was set to hold a conference in May/July but it failed. It then postponed it to September and again failed to have a conference. Later it was pushed further into October and again, for the third time, it announced that it failed to prepare and organise the conference.

ALSO READ: Fourth attempt of ANC Free State conference fails

The Free State ANC has also recently been dragged to court over various issues, including the failure to hold conferences.

In October 2022, the ANC IPC was slapped with court papers by disgruntled branches. ANC Branches once again approached the Free State High Court to have the embattled IPC disbanded.

This is the third time the branches of the party took the IPC to court after it failed to prepare and hold the provincial elective conference set to elect the new provincial executive committee (PEC).

ALSO READ: Factions deepen within Free State ANC as IPC is dragged to court, again

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