Anna Majavu

Anna Majavu

Infighting among ANC members in the Boland has led to the party's regional conference being postponed once again.

The conference was previously postponed to this weekend but has now been rescheduled to next weekend. These postponements are delaying the holding of the conference where a new ANC leadership for the province will be elected.

The provincial conference cannot be held until the Boland and Dullah Omar regions have held theirs. These regions are allegedly mired in vicious infighting over the number of members eligible to vote, with each regional leader giving a different figure.

The Boland branch is divided between two factions - one loyal to provincial chairman James Ngculu, from the "Thabo Mbeki camp", and another loyal to provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha of the "Jacob Zuma camp". Skwatsha allegedly plans to run against Ngculu for the position of chairman.

Skwatsha was stabbed in the neck at a meeting in June where he was set to explain his PEC's decision to dissolve the Boland regional executive committee.

Ngculu reportedly said that the stabbing was a criminal, not political, act, which further inflamed tensions in the region.

Last week, ANC NWC member Fikile Mbalula was forced to intervene in the Boland region after dozens of branches said they were boycotting a conference which had been hurriedly convened.

In other provinces, the fight over numbers has allegedly turned nasty, with fists flying at some conferences.