Oscar election splits ANC NEC

The issue of the disputed Eastern Cape elective conference took centre stage at the ANC national executive committee (NEC) gathering yesterday, leading to the meeting being adjourned while the top leadership met behind closed doors.

At issue was the report tabled by secretary-general Gwede Mantashe which was heavily criticised by some NEC members – arguing that it did not fully account for what happened in the Eastern Cape when Oscar Mabuyane was elected as provincial chairman last month.

As a result, the NEC decided that the party’s powerful 20-member national working committee (NWC) should meet and refine their report of what they found when they visited the province following the chaotic conference – where political rivals fought, with chairs flying in the air, leading to some delegates being hospitalised – and where Phumulo Masualle was defeated. A team of NEC members who oversaw the conference – including Zizi Kodwa, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Lindiwe Zulu – decided that it should go ahead despite the violence.

The NEC meeting is crucial as it will take a final decision to determine whether Mabuyane’s leadership remains in office or if the structure should be disbanded.

The NEC meeting was meant to resume at 4pm yesterday afternoon and receive a full account on the state of the Eastern Cape. Several sources confirmed to the Dispatch that Mantashe’s office came under “very harsh criticism” for tabling a report on the Eastern Cape conference which lacked detail.

“In fact, our view was that the report was very similar to a report the NEC got from the newly-elected Eastern Cape PEC,” said an NEC member – suggesting that Mantashe was biased towards Mabuyane.

“We had to reject the report and ask the NWC to sit again on Sunday and redo the report,” said the NEC member who did not want to be identified.

The dispute over the ANC arose after Masualle wrote a letter to Mantashe’s office complaining about the credentials of the conference. The letter was co-signed by several former PEC members including Sakhumzi Somyo.

This led to the ANC top six inviting all the affected parties to a meeting at Luthuli House and subsequently in Cape Town, to listen to the disputes.

A decision was then taken that the NWC, led by Zuma, would visit all the regions in the province to hear from the branches. The NWC report was meant to be included in the report that was tabled at the NEC meeting, which started on Friday at the St George Hotel in Irene, near Pretoria.

It is understood that NWC members demanded to know, from Mantashe, why their report was not part of the submission made to the NEC meeting. Mantashe’s report had recommended that a team outside of the NEC be set up to investigate and hear complaints from members about the disputed conference and then compile a report to be sent to the NEC for a decision.

The ANC is deeply divided into two main factions, one led by Zuma and another by deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa. The latter has publicly indicated that he wants to be the next ANC president, while Zuma has endorsed former African Union Commission Chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to succeed him.

Mabuyane has endorsed Ramaphosa to take over at the governing party’s national conference next month. Masualle’s grouping supports Dlamini-Zuma.

The fight at the NEC is about which faction is more dominant. The outcome of the NEC was not available at the time of printing.