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Chaos as Ekurhuleni ANC branches not allowed to register for regional conference

Nomazima Nkosi Senior reporter
Former Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina is gunning for another term as the ANC regional chairperson.
Former Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina is gunning for another term as the ANC regional chairperson.
Image: Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo

ANC members in Ekurhuleni have complained about irregularities ahead of the regional conference sitting this weekend.

At the centre of complaints are several branches that are alleged to be excluded from conference, despite having earlier qualified to sit in conference.

On Friday, chaotic scenes played out during registration at the Boksburg Civic Centre when ANC members aligned to regional chairperson contender Doctor Xhakaza said they were not being allowed to register and were being locked outside the gate.

Xhakaza is going head-to-head with Mzwandile Masina who is seeking a second term as regional chairperson.

Several allegations have also been made against regional secretary Thembinkosi TK Nciza who is also seeking re-election.

Those opposed to Nciza accused him of trying to steal the conference in his bid for a second term.

Nokuthula Xaba, who is running for regional secretary, said there were still outstanding disputes from about eight branches which had not yet been resolved.

“There were branches that qualified after verification. But after weeks, they came back saying they’ve been disqualified. We also want to know why they’ve been disqualified after verification was done.

“Another thing that shocked us was that the guidelines of the ANC say if there’s a problem, the branch must put [raise] disputes but in this situation, there was no dispute from branches but rather the coordinator, who wrote disputes.

“We feel it’s unfair because the guidelines are meant to protect both the organisation and branches," Xaba said.

“Branches wrote to Luthuli House [on April 28] wanting to know why they’re disqualified but up until today there’s been no response.

“We also want to know where in the guidelines does it say a regional coordinator can lodge disputes on behalf of branches.

“We want conference to go ahead but also we want the branches to be put back because they were taken out of the qualification report to disqualification without any right process.

“The only person who can resolve this problem is the president of the ANC. We don’t even trust the ANC organiser [Nomvula Mokonyane]. We don’t trust them anymore,” she said.

Another ANC member from ward 13 said they had not been told what the conference venue was.

“On Thursday, we were issued a notice at 9am telling us to come and register at 11am as conference was sitting this weekend.

“When we complained about the short notice, it was moved to 3pm. Even then, it was still too early for us because we were at work and we couldn’t even apply for leave from our respective jobs,” she said.

Conference is set to sit at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways, Johannesburg.

Xaba said that was hearsay and the venue had not yet been communicated with branches, including branch secretaries.

Nciza could not reached for comment and did not respond to calls or text messages.

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