Efforts are afoot to strike last-minute back-room deals and secret caucuses are being held as the ANC leadership race turns into a bruising affair in the Western Cape.
|||Cape Town - Efforts are afoot to strike last-minute back-room deals and secret caucuses are being held as the ANC leadership race turns into a bruising affair in the Western Cape.
With supporters of Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe dreading a purge if the Jacob Zuma camp is victorious at Mangaung, compromises are being sought between
competing factions over the top six positions.
So far 92 branch general meetings to nominate party leaders have been held in the province, with 79 still outstanding.
And the Zuma camp appears to be leading the way.
Figures indicate that 62 branches have so far voted for Zuma and 30 for Motlanthe.
If the current trend holds, it seems the Western Cape will opt to change only three of the top six posts: this would see Zuma remain party president, Cyril Ramaphosa become his deputy, Gwede Mantashe remain secretary-general, with Jesse Duarte as deputy secretary, Baleka Mbete remaining national chairwoman, and Jeff Radebe becoming treasurer.
But Motlanthe supporters said the pronouncements were premature, with the true figures likely to show a 50/50 split.
Meanwhile, senior party members say factionalism is delaying the process and branches, particularly those in the Dullah Omar region, have failed to achieve quorums. In the metro region, only 20 branches have met, with 35 outstanding.
“Getting a quorum for the branch meetings has proven to be a near-impossible task. In order to go to a branch meeting, you must know who your branch members are. But in most cases the attendance lists in many areas were never received, and this is causing major problems at branch level,” a member revealed.
The party has deployed all its MPs, MPLs and other senior party members in the province to branches to ensure that the meetings have quorums.
Western Cape branches have been given until Tuesday to finalise their nominations, before the provincial general council meets to consolidate nominations before Mangaung.
The deadline is expected to be extended to accommodate those branches that have battled with quorums.
The Western Cape will send only 178 branch delegates to the conference.
The Southern Cape appears to be the only ANC region backing Motlanthe outright for president.
The ANC’s Putco Mapitiza said they had had 20 successful meetings in all sub-regions, but Knysna and Oudtshoorn had fallen behind. A few branches had struggled to get a quorum, but had employed strategies to intensify the process.
“It’s in the interest of the regional leadership to ensure all branches go to Mangaung. Where elements of disruption occur, as leadership we respond promptly,” he said.
The region had decided to lobby for change and wanted to see Motlanthe as president, Tokyo Sexwale as his deputy, Thandi Modise as national chair, Fikile Mbalula as secretary-general, Phoebe Potgieter as his deputy, and Matthews Phosa as treasurer.
On the West Coast, 16 branches are heading to Mangaung, with 13 having already held their branch general meetings and only three outstanding.
ANC regional secretary in the Overberg, Themba Tebele, said that of the 19 branches that will go to Mangaung, 16 had already held their meetings.
He would not divulge details, but said Zuma supporters were dominating.
Opposing groups claimed however there was a 50/50 split in the region between Zuma and Motlanthe branches.
The three outstanding branches are Grabouw, Caledon and Cape Agulhus.
Sources say the results from the Karoo region indicate that Zuma is leading seven to one, with only one branch meeting outstanding.
Members in the Boland region said of the 20 branches that had met, 15 had voted for Zuma and 20 branches still had to meet.
warda.meyer@inl.co.za
Weekend Argus