By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC)’s Western Cape’s provincial conference is yet to kick off, with the opening been postponed to tomorrow at 9am.
Some of the delegates have not arrived at the venue, while others are still in their hotels, according the Interim Provincial Committee (IPC).
Provincial convenor Lerumo Kalako said, some delegates didn’t have accommodation as their hotel rooms were unfortunately occupied by the so-called “friends of delegates”.
“Comrades are sitting in hotels. The problem they are creating is that some of them are friends of delegates,” the convener said.
Those affected by the “friends of delegates” making themselves at home in their booked hotel rooms, were apparently voting delegates from the Boland and Overberg.
Bheki Cele, Barbara Creecy and some of the ANC’s NEC members at the Western Cape 9th Provincial Conference.
More than 700 delegates are expected to attend the ANC conference, which was scheduled from 23 to 25 June at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula is expected to deliver the keynote address which will signal the official start of the long-delayed conference.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will close the conference on Sunday.
Day one of the Western Cape ANC’s ninth provincial conference got off to a bit of a slow start as party officials struggled to get everyone registered timeously.
But party members at the registration venue remained upbeat and could be heard singing as they wait for the conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) to get started.
Those running for leadership positions could also be seen at the venue, from chairperson hopefuls, Richard Dyantyi and Cameron Dugmore.
The conference is the Western Cape ANC’s first elective conference in eight years and comes as the party tries to change its election fortunes come next year.
The conference was repeatedly postponed over the past few years as the requirement to hold 70% of branch general meetings (BGMs) had not been met.
The ANC’s largest region in the Western Cape, in terms of membership and population, the Dullah Omar Region, is yet to hold its conference after it was disbanded in February 2022, with the IPC citing its failure to prove that it would be ready to hold its conference.
The now-axed ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule appointed the IPC to run the province in August 2019 following the disbanding of the Western Cape provincial executive committee in July by the ANC’s National Executive Committee.
The IPC was disbanded in August 2023 as its nine-month term had lapsed, but the members were reappointed again. Now the party wants to revive itself by electing new leadership.
In the 2009 general elections, the ANC lost the Western Cape to the DA and has never regained it. The ANC won only 31% of the vote in 2009 and fell to 28% in the 2019 elections.