The Motlanthe committee gave the aggrieved members in the Eastern Cape 48 hours to lodge their disputes and appeals
The ANC’s election committee, chaired by Kgalema Motlanthe, has effectively usurped the power of the party’s national dispute resolution committee (NDRC) to preside over disputes and appeals lodged by aggrieved members in the Eastern Cape.
Motlanthe has issued revised instructions to all party structures in the province, including the general membership and supporters, and relevant national structures, directing that all disputes and appeals must be lodged directly with his committee, with immediate effect, rather than with the NDRC.
The ANC stalwart said the NDRC would no longer handle the process, but did not give the reasons for this action.
But it is understood some ANC branches in the Eastern Cape do not trust the NDRC and the provincial structures to handle the process fairly, due to Luthuli House’s direct involvement causing dissatisfaction among members in the province.
Before the Motlanthe committee intervention, disputes were lodged with the provincial list committee (PLC), while the provincial dispute resolution structures were said to be compromised and delaying matters submitted to it.
The Motlanthe committee gave the aggrieved members in the Eastern Cape 48 hours to lodge their disputes and appeals, which must be addressed directly to Motlanthe himself and sent through the committee secretary, Chief Livhuwani Matsila.
The committee, which enjoys some autonomy from the party, was responsible for drafting the ANC guidelines governing the holding of party branch general meetings (BGMs), branch biennial meetings and provincial and national conferences.
Court battles fuel tensions
Eastern Cape grassroots structures were in the news recently after they successfully took the provincial and national leadership to court twice, disputing the unprocedural and unconstitutional processes that led up to the provincial conference initially set for March.
Aggrieved members led by Lwazi Rotya not only challenged the wrong processes but also complained about the hurried appointment of the ANC provincial task team (PTT) to replace the dissolved provincial executive committee (PEC).
The Eastern Cape High Court in KuGompo ruled against the unconstitutional processes followed and the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda against the PTT appointment, with both courts separately ruling in the aggrieved members favour.
Members fear repeat of 2021 candidate disputes
Now, with local government elections in November, members fear a repeat of what happened before the 2021 local election, when candidates democratically nominated by branches and communities were ignored in favour of the politically connected.
Outsiders were sneaked in to replace legitimate candidates, angering branch members who lodged disputes with local PLCs.
Some of the disputes were resolved after Luthuli House appointed an investigative team chaired by national executive member Dina Pule.
However, others remained unresolved, prompting legitimate candidates to run as independents in by-elections, backed by branches and communities, and to win.
In Matlosana in North West, parachuted candidates were removed and replaced with a legitimately-nominated member, Pakiso Mqikela.
Protest planned over alleged interference
The Eastern Cape and North West had become the centres of political storms in the ANC.
In the Eastern Cape, aggrieved branches are planning to stage a protest outside the ANC Eastern Cape headquarters to demand that the province stop interfering in the branches’ legitimate activities.
They want the provincial leadership to stop manipulating BGMs, community meetings, PR nominations and the disbanding of legitimately elected branches.
They want the leadership to respect community votes and court judgments, the dissolved PEC to be reinstated and ANC step-aside rule be implemented, rather than delayed with alleged wrongdoers.
Eric Mthobeli Naki
www.citizen.co.za