Cape Town - An internal ANC report shows that thousands of ANC branches countrywide are in a state of disarray and racing against time to hold the requisite branch general meetings before an October 25 deadline.
As at October 9, the party’s biggest provinces – KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Gauteng – had a combined 2 005 outstanding BGMs.
Out of the party’s 267 participating branches in the Western Cape, only 14 branches have nominated candidates, with 253 BGMs.
Though ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe hadn’t responded at the time of writing, two senior ANC sources verified the report.
The report shows that the party has 3 979 branches, but 2 327 convened before October 9, with 772 qualified branches and 1 555 branches disqualified and 3 207 “outstanding” BGMs.
The recently-elected Boland region is under dispute as a result of load shedding and issues with scanners that plagued BGMs.
A source in the ANC said branches commonly complained of load shedding in the BGMs, which led to registration processes being done manually, opening a gap for manipulation of branch numbers.
Political analyst Sanusha Naidoo questioned the numbers and said that if indeed there is a miscalculation, it would be hard to extrapolate the meaning of the numbers ahead of the conference. She said she believed some of the BGMs were affected by issues with the scanners and load shedding.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the numbers portrayed a failure of organisational leadership.
He said: “This is a serious indictment of the current leadership. The Ramaphosa-led ANC has dismally failed to provide organisational leadership. All the talk about unity and renewal is being exposed for what it is – a total sham.
“Organisationally the party is at its weakest and has never been more divided …
“The ANC is now facing a deep existential crisis. The state of chaos it is in is exactly what Ramaphosa needs. Chaos enables the current leadership to manipulate the electoral process with relative ease.”
The Cape Argus has seen a Wednesday letter from Boland region secretary Charl Jacobs to members, reminding them that the cut-off date for all BGMs for the conference is October 25.