Branch disputes still rage ahead of Amathole ANC conference

With just a few weeks before theANCin the Amathole region goes to its elective conference, a number of disgruntled party branches have threatened to take their party to court. This as their branches are at risk of not participating in the upcoming elective congress, due to an ongoing investigation into their membership numbers. The nine branches in question, in the Amahlathi and Raymond Mhlaba sub-regions, claim they could not go to their mandatory branch biennial general meetings (BBGM’s) andbranch general meetings (BGM’s) in the past few weeks.

This after they had allegedly been verbally informed by the party’s regional secretary, Nombuyekezo Ncethezo, that their membership was being investigated. Some claim that Ncethezo had failed to provide them with a QR code that is used to record and verify party membership in good standing during BGMs, thus preventing them from going ahead with their meetings where they were expected to nominate leaders they wanted. The region is set to go to its conference between March 20 and 22, with the cut-off date for membership renewal having been on December 31 2025.

This regional fifth conference will sit just a few days before the Eastern Cape ANC goes to its elective provincialconference, which is scheduled to sit between March 27 and 30. Amathole’s outgoing regional executive committee (REC), chaired by Sheila Xego, was elected in April 2023. While some branches claim to have met all the requirements for them to go to BBGM’s and BGM’s and thus pronounce on their preferred candidates to take seats in the new regional leadership structure, they accuse Ncethezo of sidelining them.

[paywall]

This, they claim, comes after some of them had indicated that they would not support her, opting instead to support Aviwe Silo. The Dispatch has seen some of their letters to the provincial ANC, raising concerns about the alleged conduct of their regional secretary. They, however, all asked not to be identified, fearing victimisation.

[/paywall]