THE ANC’s Eastern Cape provincial elective conference received a green light to convene at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth on June 26 to 29.
This was announced yesterday by the party’s provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane.
Mabuyane said branches were also given a go-ahead to start lobbying for their preferred candidates for the party’s top five positions and additional members as the provincial executive committee (PEC) is rushing to hold the first branch general meetings (BGM) this weekend.
“We are already late by about two weeks, so BGMs are going to start this weekend. L obbying should be in full swing ,” said Mabuyane.
Indications are that all but the provincial chairman position currently held by Phumulo Masualle would be contested at the conference. A text message has been doing rounds since the beginning of May to influence the decisions of branches.
The message also suggests that the current provincial treasurer Thandiswa Marawu would serve a second term without any contest. It also suggests that:
l Education portfolio committee head Zolile Mrara and former Buffalo City Metro mayor Zukisa Faku are being touted to contest for the deputy chairman position. The position would be left vacant when Cacadu-based Agrarian Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti leaves to focus on his national role .
l The Dispatch reported last week that ANC PEC member Michael Peter will contest Mabuyane as provincial secretary. But the message cites Ten-Ten Sam, and Ayanda Matiti as other preferred people for the position.
l ANC MP Lulu Johnson will challenge incumbent deputy secretary Helen Sauls-August for her position.
Branches would know their status during the course of the week, as the province’s final audit outcomes were only signed off recently.
Only members in “good standing” would be allowed to form part of the BGMs. But there is a setback. The audit outcomes show that ANC membership in the province has declined, according to Mabuyane.
The province suffered a blow in preparation for last December’s national conference in Mangaung when national June 2012 audits showed that Eastern Cape membership dropped from 225597 in January to 187585 in June – a challenge Mabuyane earlier attributed to formation of parallel structures in areas such as OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo and the formation of the breakaway Congress of the People.
“Indications are that our numbers have decreased even further in some regions,” he said . But the data is still being analysed and the regions that have been hardest hit would only be known in the “next few days,” he added.
Matiti said he would await the conference to be able “to know whether indeed branches want him to serve them. That’s where people will accept and decline nominations” .
No responses were received from Mrara, Faku and Sam to messages sent to them, while Sauls-August, Peter and Johnson could not be reached for comment. —
ANC gets go-ahead to vote
This was announced yesterday by the party’s provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane.
Mabuyane said branches were also given a go-ahead to start lobbying for their preferred candidates for the party’s top five positions and additional members as the provincial executive committee (PEC) is rushing to hold the first branch general meetings (BGM) this weekend.
“We are already late by about two weeks, so BGMs are going to start this weekend. L obbying should be in full swing ,” said Mabuyane.
Indications are that all but the provincial chairman position currently held by Phumulo Masualle would be contested at the conference. A text message has been doing rounds since the beginning of May to influence the decisions of branches.
The message also suggests that the current provincial treasurer Thandiswa Marawu would serve a second term without any contest. It also suggests that:
l Education portfolio committee head Zolile Mrara and former Buffalo City Metro mayor Zukisa Faku are being touted to contest for the deputy chairman position. The position would be left vacant when Cacadu-based Agrarian Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti leaves to focus on his national role .
l The Dispatch reported last week that ANC PEC member Michael Peter will contest Mabuyane as provincial secretary. But the message cites Ten-Ten Sam, and Ayanda Matiti as other preferred people for the position.
l ANC MP Lulu Johnson will challenge incumbent deputy secretary Helen Sauls-August for her position.
Branches would know their status during the course of the week, as the province’s final audit outcomes were only signed off recently.
Only members in “good standing” would be allowed to form part of the BGMs. But there is a setback. The audit outcomes show that ANC membership in the province has declined, according to Mabuyane.
The province suffered a blow in preparation for last December’s national conference in Mangaung when national June 2012 audits showed that Eastern Cape membership dropped from 225597 in January to 187585 in June – a challenge Mabuyane earlier attributed to formation of parallel structures in areas such as OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo and the formation of the breakaway Congress of the People.
“Indications are that our numbers have decreased even further in some regions,” he said . But the data is still being analysed and the regions that have been hardest hit would only be known in the “next few days,” he added.
Matiti said he would await the conference to be able “to know whether indeed branches want him to serve them. That’s where people will accept and decline nominations” .
No responses were received from Mrara, Faku and Sam to messages sent to them, while Sauls-August, Peter and Johnson could not be reached for comment. —
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