Suspended ANC MPL Andile Lili said he was pleased with the outcomes of the conference. Picture: ANA Archives
With a provincial membership of more than 30 000, the ANC faced a “painful challenge” as it was projected as corrupt, while many of its members implicated in serious cases were being forced to step aside.
This was according to outgoing interim provincial committee (IPC) co-ordinator Noluthando Makasi in her frank assessment of the ANC Western Cape in her organisational report to the party provincial conference at the weekend.
Makasi said the ANC was “in this mess” because of indecisiveness and an inability to act against those who undermined it. Her report showed that the party’s provincial membership stood at more than 30 000 when it was last audited nine months ago.
“To date we have more than 30 000 members in good standing, but we need to ensure we assist our branches to renew membership as some were picked up during the branch general meetings that were due for renewal,” she said.
There were a total of 260 branches, and 240 were in good standing when audited last September. The seven-page report did not give a breakdown of the spread of membership according to the regions.
Makasi said all regions would continue focusing on building strong, vibrant, active and campaigning branches that would be up to the task of winning elections.
Suspended ANC MPL Andile Lili said he was pleased with the outcomes of the conference. He was placed on step-aside leave in February, which barred him from representing the ANC or appearing at gatherings until his legal matters came to a conclusion.
“I am very happy and pleased with the outcome. They suspended me three days before the conference for a case that stems from 2015. A case they know everything about.
“They thought they were punishing me, but the delegates punished them more. I am very happy with the outcome, it is exactly what I wanted,” he said.
Outgoing IPC convenor Lerumo Kalako made similar observations in his political report when he implicated some national leaders for funding the divisions and also senior provincial leaders for being at the centre of the factions.
Erwin Schwella, an emeritus professor at Tilburg Law School and Dean of the School of Social Innovation at Hugenote, said there had been several issues that destroyed the ANC in the province.
“There is a national contest where the national divisions and factions have spilled over into the province.
“The past challenges will sustain as the Western Cape electorate is a mature electorate and the only provincial electorate which changes its votes to reward better governance and service delivery. You will also find that the factions in the Western Cape made the whole ANC operation unsustainable,” he said.
Cape Times
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