Two warring Free State ANC groups each elected their own regional executive committees, but the Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) said only one conference had been sanctioned — the one held at Imvelo Safari Lodge, where Lawrence Mathae was elected chairperson and Vusi Soqaka his deputy. 

Divisions within the IPC have led to some branches siding with coordinator Paseka Nompondo and others with convener Mxolisi Dukwana.

Supporters of former Free State ANC deputy chairperson Thabo Manyoni — aligned to Nompondo — convened a conference at Bon Hotel in Bloemfontein, after the high court dismissed with costs their application for an order to interdict the regional conference planned by the Mangaung ANC’s Interim Regional Committee (IRC).

“There were people who tried to interdict the Mangaung conference on Friday. They failed and on Saturday went on to hold a conference that was not sanctioned by the higher structure,” said provincial spokesperson Oupa Khoabane.

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“A conference is something that needs to meet certain requirements before calling it a conference.”

Without mentioning names, Khoabane confirmed provincial leaders attended the unsanctioned conference. Disciplinary action is expected to be taken against these leaders after the IPC’s meeting.

Mangaung is the province’s only metro.

Read in Daily Maverick: “ANC members in Mangaung take leaders to court in bid to disband interim regional and provincial structures”

Fannie Lelimo, who was part of the group that lost in court, told the SABC that their meeting had been above board.

“We are disciplined members of the ANC and exhausted all internal processes to solve our issues. However, in this region and province, we have leaders that do not listen to members of the ANC.”

The group alleged that 4,500 members from 45 branches in Mangaung had disputes that were yet to be resolved by the task team established by acting ANC Secretary-General Paul Mashatile.

The IPC denied this, saying it had received a report that all disputes had been resolved, hence the conference had been given the green light.

Disarray

The Free State has been in disarray for a number of years and attempts to unite the warring factions, including intervention by former ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, have failed. 

The pushback is from a faction linked to suspended ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule. A former long-standing chairperson of the province, Magashule has not been replaced since his appointment to the national office in 2017. He still holds influence in some parts of the province despite being out in the cold for more than a year following his suspension.

Another regional conference in the province, held in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality, descended into chaos and police were called in to calm the situation. Some members of the region alleged they had been denied entry to the conference. 

Former treasurer and convener Xolile Toki was elected unopposed as Lejweleputswa regional chairperson. 

Toki and Mathae are supporters of Mxolisi Dukwana, who is the current IPC convener and will contest for the position of provincial chairperson. 

The Free State also endorsed Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term and Fikile Mbalula for secretary-general. Other positions will be finalised at the provincial conference.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Disgruntled ANC Mangaung group takes on interim provincial committee, but denies claims of influence by Ace Magashule”

The Free State and the Western Cape are the only provinces yet to hold conferences leading up to the national ANC conference on 16 December.

The ANC in the Western Cape announced on Tuesday that it would not convene its conference this year because, to date, the province has held 267 branch meetings — 17 shy of the 284, or 70% threshold, required to hold a provincial conference.

ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said they are waiting for a report on the state of the organisation in the Free State to understand what really happened over the weekend. DM