ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane has hit out at party members and leaders who are “organising themselves as a splinter formation.”
Addressing a special ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting on Monday, Mabuyane urged ANC members to embrace unity and renewal.
‘Negative tendencies’
“In the process of renewal, we will confront all negative tendencies, including those that are organising themselves as a splinter formation within the organisation and those that vulgarise our conference resolutions on the second and more radical phase of socio-economic transformation for their own narrow selfish interests,” he said.
ANC divisions have become more pronounced in recent weeks following the appearance of Secretary-General Ace Magashule in court on corruption charges in November.
Magashule has since refused to “step aside” from his position. This is despite an ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) decision and 54th National Conference resolution requiring corruption-accused leaders to do so.
Magashule also addressed a large rally outside court and declared that “no one can remove us” from their positions.
‘Ill discipline’
Seemingly reacting to this, Mabuyane said, “No single individual is above a structure of the organisation that they serve in, irrespective of the position they hold in that structure.
“The NEC remains that highest decision-making organ of the ANC in between conferences, as such it is utmost ill-discipline and anarchy to disregard its authority and decisions regardless of whatever position one may hold in the organisation.”
The chairperson also wondered how many ANC leaders would “sacrifice their positions for the cause of liberation.”
“These are questions that we must ask ourselves at times, especially when we cling on positions that we hold to an extent that rather the organisation and the people suffer than us not being in those positions,” he added.
ANC NGC
The ANC is preparing for its mid-term National General Council (NGC) in 2021 when it will review the implementation of various conference resolutions.
Some in the ANC have vowed to use the NGC to take President Cyril Ramaphosa to task over the “slow” implementation of “radical economic transformation” (RET) resolutions.
However, Mabuyane urged ANC members to “ensure that the NGC is not turned into a platform to demonstrate strength of any grouping or preferences within the ANC.”