by 013NEWS Reporter | Nov 14, 2017 | Politics
The matter concerns Branch General Meetings that were sitting to nominate leaders for the December congress.
ANC contender Mathews Phosa is currently not a happy man and he is not folding his arms about it.
He says he is taking the Mpumalanga ANC branches to headquarters to report what he says were “corrupt activities” during BGMs.
Phosa, a fierce rival of Mpumalanga ANC leader David Mabuza and who also doesn’t really enjoy support in the province, said what occurred during branch nomination meetings was shocking – intimidation and flouting of nomination processes.
“We request the NEC to intervene in Mpumalanga,” Phosa’s campaign organiser Ronnie Malomane told journalists in Mbombela.
SEE ALSO: North West branch nominates DD as deputy secretary in CR Team
He said more than 70% of Mpumalanga branches which sat for their BGMs in the past four weeks were not convened properly.
“Here, delegates who are elected in BGMs and who are having a different view from that of the REC and PEC of the ANC are being eliminated from the list and are replaced with people who are told who to vote for during the conference,” Malomane said during a press briefing a week ago.
He said in cases where people refused to nominate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma some found themselves being intimidated and even assaulted by members of the Practical Radical Economic Transformation (PRET).
He said a letter has already been written to party national secretary Gwede Mantashe to report Mpumalanga branch corrupt activities.
Phosa eyes the position of President of the ANC in December 2017’s national elective congress.
He has said more and more branches in the Eastern Cape were nominating for the position.
Phosa earlier this year had some branches in the Western Cape endorsing him to succeed outgoing president, Jacob Zuma when the party’s 54th national congress sits at the Nasrec Expo Centre, Soweto from 16-20 December 2017.
Mantashe confirmed complaints were received but said they were from “across the country” and he was dealing with them as they come.
(edited by MLM)
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by 013NEWS Reporter | Oct 28, 2017 | Politics
He said directives have already been issued and they will hold a press conference soon to make their views on NDZ publicly known.
The Practical Radical Economic Transformation (PRET) group of Mpumalanga describes former AU chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as the woman towards the realisation of economic freedom.
They say they want an ANC leader who will deliver this kind of freedom to the youth of South Africa and not someone who will maintain the status quo.
This week PRET secretary Sunday Mathebula issued directives in a letter addressed to “PRET Chief Generals and whole membership” to inform others about the need to infiltrate and influence ANC branch general meetings to nominate Dlamini-Zuma.
SEE ALSO: Branch of Gert Sibande ANC leader nominates ‘Unity’
ALSO RELATED: ANC denies ordering Mpumalanga branches to nominate ‘Unity’
“Anybody, any group, any formation or organisation in South Africa has interests in who should lead the ANC in December, and as PRET we also do, why isolate us?” he said when asked why they want NDZ instead of Mabuza’s Unity.
“No, no. Comrade DD Mabuza never called for the unity of candidature but he called for the unity of the movement (ANC), which we support. The movement must unite, not candidature,” Mathebula said over the phone.
“So, yes we want NDZ and we have issued those directives to our branches to nominate her as president and Mabuza as her deputy in the ANC BGMs. We believe she’s advancing the same agenda of economic freedom as us,” he said.
He added that on Monday they will have a press conference to make publicly known their views on NDZ.
PRET’s view on the succession debate differs slightly with Mabuza’s position of unity. Mabuza, coming to the 54th congress with the second largest province, is not disclosing his cards yet, only preaching.
He has reportedly ordered PEC members and regional leaders to get branches to put the word ‘Unity’ on the nomination forms instead of someone’s name during BGMs.
However PRET’s endorsement of Dlamini-Zuma may be something that has his blessings, as the group is led by his allies, eMalahleni businessman Themba ‘Masofa’ Sgudla as well as Mathebula, a politician in the eMalahleni area.
Mabuza is listed as a deputy president in the NDZ slate as well as his friend Free State ANC leader Ace Magashule as secretary-general.
SEE ALSO: ‘Mabuza established PRET as his EFF’
RELATED: PRET sends ‘directives’ to branches to nominate NDZ
(edited by ZK)
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by 013NEWS Reporter | Oct 27, 2017 | Politics
He spoke this week during a two day government lekgotla in Mbombela.
ZIBONELE MNCWANGO
Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza has called on the administration of the Mpumalanga provincial government not to be pre-occupied or be distracted by the upcoming elective conference of the ANC in December.
He said the provincial government should remain disciplined, focused and must continue to work for the people with dignity.
Mabuza said it was natural and normal that they would have their views, he however urged them to stay away from politics but should focus on the task at hand, which was to deliver the services for the people.
“This Lekgotla takes place when we are preoccupied by the next conference of the governing party which will elect a new leadership for the next phase of our struggle,” he said.
“Once this has passed, the focus will immediately be on the 2019 elections,” he told the MECs.
“As we move forward, stay disciplined and focus on the agenda. Be positive as we carry change, let us be optimistic about our country,” the Premier said.
“We need to be open-minded and be selfless. We all need to think about the country’s success.
“It thus means as this government, we must intensify our communication with a focus on our achievements and delivery record. Our communication machinery has not been effective in highlighting the achievements made, and in shaping the narrative of progress from where we were since our ascension into government.
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“It’s as if, all that is doing is corruption thus putting a stain on the good work we are doing. That is why at a governance level, we must pay attention to improving our systems and improving our performance on audit outcomes, reflecting a commitment to clean governance,” said Mabuza.
The Premier further extended his appreciation to the administration for the work done thus far in the implementation of government work.
“This is a critical time in the life of our government as we officially enter the last lap towards completion of the term of the current administration and preparing for the next cycle.
“Over the next two days, we will be making an assessment of how far we have gone in meeting the commitments we made, but also in identifying those areas where we needs to put more energy in order to end the term on a high note and to hand over a clean administration to the next government. Overall, I am certain that we have made a necessary progress in ensuring that a better life to the people of Mpumalanga is achieved.
“We must take comfort in that we have come with practical initiatives that supported provision of social protection to the vulnerable, by among others, increasing access to basic services, levelling the playing field through investment in education and health and by so doing, we have expanded opportunities for human development.
“In essence, we have ensured that a process of enlarging people’s choices through building of their capabilities, has extended dignity to our people,” said Premier Mabuza.
He explained that the current provincial administration was in a sense entering a transition period to the next, and it was important to accelerate the implementation of government programmes on key commitments.
He said as they were making the assessment of the past performance at the lekgotla, they should be able to isolate issues that required consolidation as well as those that required accelerated interventions.
“Unachieved targets should be reflected with clear underlying causal factors, backed by clear acceleration plans where applicable. There is no time for complacency and the patience of the public is waning.
“At the heart of our interventions, we should be preoccupied by a determination to work hard towards the fulfilment of the hopes and aspirations of our people to enjoy a secure and decent livelihood, be in gainful employment, and have hope that ending poverty and inequality is possible.
“I want us to focus on implementation, implementation and more implementation,” said Mabuza.
*Mncwango works in the office of the Premier as a communication officer. This is an official government statement.
by 013NEWS Reporter | Oct 24, 2017 | Politics
Most of members in her branch are supporters of CR17, the SABC has reported.
The branch of ANC presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in KZN is faced with problems and may not be able to send delegates to the 54th national elective congress in December.
Branch leader Sibusiso Mbutho told the SABC this week that there is no one willing to come and solve their problem.
Dlamini-Zuma’s branch is in Durban in the eThekwini region.
Problems began a year ago when ANC officials from higher structures disbanded the branch, fighting over the manipulation of the councillor candidate list during 3 August 2016 local government elections.
Branch members believe the decision in December 2016 by the ANC eThekwini regional executive committee to disband the branch and the refusal to reverse it is a clear plan to prevent the branch from attending the congress in December.
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The branch supported Senzo Mchunu against Sihle Zikalala in the 2015 KZN provincial congress and has the majority of its members supporting CR17.
“There is no political willingness from the higher structures to correct that problem,” Mbutho, branch chairman, said of the issue of being disbanded.
“Until today there is no official correspondence in terms of the disbandment and therefore it is unconstitutional,” he told the public broadcaster.
“We have appealed the matter until it reached higher structures of the organisation,” Mbutho said.
Members claim that instead of resolving issues, regional party leaders disbanded the branch. An NEC task team had investigated the issue for which they were disbanded and made recommendations but since then the recommendations, reversing the decision that disbanded the branch, was not implemented as they are viewed as a CR17 branch.
The provincial working committee is due to sit and look at the matter, the ANC KZN said this week.
(edited by MLM)
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by 013NEWS Reporter | Oct 9, 2017 | Politics
Mpumalanga made a surprise increase in membership over the past five years, becoming the second largest ANC province and will this year send 15% of the total number of delegates to congress compared to the 10% it sent in 2012.
The ANC’s 54th national elective congress in December 2017 will have 4 723 voting delegates, with KZN still the largest ANC province.
Unlike in 2012 where KZN sent 974 delegates, this time they have been allocated only 870, a decrease by 104.
Mpumalanga has overtaken Eastern Cape as the second largest province, increasing the number of allocated voting delegates from 467 in the 2012 Mangaung conference to 736 in this year’s congress.
Eastern Cape which has always remained the biggest ANC province dropped from 676 in 2012 to 648, becoming the third largest province with Limpopo being the fourth biggest at 643 delegates in 2017.
SEE ALSO: Mpumalanga ANC regions scared of pronouncing
North West will send 538, Gauteng 508 and 409 will come from the Free State.
In 2012, Limpopo was allocated 574 delegates and was followed by Gauteng 500, Mpumalanga 467, the Free State 324 and the North West 234.
Northern Cape will send 197 while 182 will come from the Western Cape.
In 2012, Northern Cape sent 176 delegates while Western Cape sent 178.
Biggest provinces by allocated delegates since 2012
1.) KZN – 870 delegates compared to 974 in 2012.
2.) Mpumalanga – 736 delegates compared to 467 in 2012.
3. Eastern Cape – 648 delegates compared to 676 in 2012.
4.) Limpopo – 643 delegates compared to 574 in 2012.
5.) North West – 538 delegates compared to 234 in 2012.
6.) Gauteng – 508 compared to 500 in 2012.
7.) Free State – 409 delegates compared to 324 in 2012.
8.) Northern Cape – 197 delegates compared to 176 in 2012.
9.) Western Cape – 182 delegates compared to 178 in 2012.
(edited by MLM)
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