The ANC in the Western Cape will convene its conference next year.
PHOTO: Thapelo Maphakela/Gallo Images
- The ANC in the Western Cape postponed its provincial conference to early next year.
- The party has not been able to reach the 70% threshold that is required to convene a provincial conference.
- The party held its enlarged meeting of the provincial working committee on Sunday.
The ANC in the Western Cape will not hold its provincial conference this year and has opted to hold it early next year.
A date has not yet been set.
The province has 267 branches, 17 branches below the 70% threshold required to hold a provincial conference. On Sunday it held its extended meeting of the provincial working committee in Cape Town.
The interim provincial committee (IPC) also received a report on the preparations for the 9th provincial conference.
According to the party, the province has fewer than 20 branches in good standing, but the mandates of all regions have expired, meaning no region is in good standing.
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The membership system was compromised in most regions, and the demarcation of districts due to the 2021 local government elections affected many branches.
Spokesman Sifiso Mtsweni said that four of the six regions had reached the 70% threshold and three successful regional conferences had been held. The fourth regional conference, for the Central Karoo, will take place on Friday.
He said:
Based on that, the IPC resolved that the provincial conference will be held after the national conference in the first half of next year, after a thorough process to ensure that all the work that needs to be done in the regions is completed and that no one is Left behind.
The ANC said the IPC took steps a few months ago to dissolve the Dullah Omar and Southern Cape regions due to slow work, and installed IPC-led task forces to strengthen the ANC’s rebuilding work in the two regions.
To date, the two regions have made substantial progress. The Southern Cape region has grown from eight to 48 branches with a membership of over 100, to 13 branches reaching its 70% threshold.
“The IPC resolved that work needs to be intensified to ensure that both Dullah Omar and the Southern Cape hold their regional conferences before the provincial conference,” he said.
This is just the latest development in a series of conference dates announced by the party.
In July, the party said it would take place between August 31 and September 2, and then in August it set new dates of September 30 to October 2.
An interim leadership structure has been put in place in the Western Cape since the party’s provincial executive committee was dissolved in 2019.
