ANC Eastern Cape crisis framed as ‘coordinated attack’ on party

ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane. Picture: ANC Eastern Cape/Facebook ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane says the indefinite postponement of the province’s elective conference is not accidental, but a coordinated attack on the party. Mabuyane addressed delegates on Saturday evening following the adjournment of the conference amid internal legal disputes.

On Saturday, legal representatives for three ANC members who challenged the party’s provincial conference and ANC legal representatives agreed to postpone the conference indefinitely. The three members had filed an urgent application for contempt of court against the ANC. However, the matter was removed from the urgent court roll following an agreement by all parties involved.

“In the introduction, it is recorded that the African National Congress, which is a litigant in the proceedings and referred to in various papers as the second respondent, have conveyed the decision not to proceed with the Eastern Cape provincial congress scheduled to take place between 26 and 29 March 2026. It is ordered by agreement that the application for contempt be removed from the urgent roll and placed in the normal court process for a date to be arranged by the registrar of this court. The application for contempt is postponed accordingly,” said the court on Saturday.

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Mabuyane reiterated the party’s respect for court processes, but warned that further disputes would destabilise the party at the national level. He said the Eastern Cape was being targeted because it is the party’s “historical stronghold”. “If the Eastern Cape is fragmented, the overall organisational coherence of the ANC evaporates.

We are the historic stronghold and the ideological anchor. We are the province of OR Tambo, of Walter Sisulu, of the very soil from which the tree of freedom grew. And precisely because of that, the enemies of progress have trained their sights on us.

“What presents itself as internal organisational dynamics is, in reality, something far more sinister. We are witnessing a coordinated counter-revolutionary agenda designed to divide, weaken, and ultimately neutralise this province. When the foundation cracks, the entire structure trembles. Therefore, the defense of unity in the Eastern Cape is not a provincial imperative, it is a national strategic necessity.” The party’s provincial chair further cautioned against factionalism and personality cults, saying they are fertile ground for infiltration and manipulation.

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