As part of the preparation for ANC’s national general council (NGC) next week, KwaZulu-Natal party branches will converge for the provincial general council (PGC) in Durban over the weekend.

In a short statement issued by the provincial leadership on Wednesday, its PGC will be held at Coastlands Hotel in Durban.

Party spokesperson, Fanle Sibisi, said it was all systems go for the event.

“The PGC follows successful regional general councils held throughout the province, where valuable contributions were gathered from different sectors in regions. The PGC will serve as a critical platform for branches and structures to engage with the national general council’s Discussion Documents, refine inputs, and consolidate the unified provincial position ahead of the NGC.

Although the party did not give details on the status of the branches, sources within the party said the province will send just over a hundred delegates to the NGC.

The NGC, which acts as a mid-term assessment of the party’s performance and policy review between conferences, will take place at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Gauteng next week.

Out of close to 900 branches, the province is said to have been approved for only just over a hundred delegates, with the biggest regions of eThekwini and Pietermaritzburg being able to send 20 and 15 delegates, respectively.

The province is expected to release a consolidated number of branches that have passed the national audit after its PGC.

A senior leader in the province attributed the lower number of delegates to the branch audit process, which rejected many branches in the provinces.

The leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said many branches did not pass the audit, which was controlled at Luthuli House.

“Our province will send a low number of delegates to the NGC next week, which has never happened before. I wonder what quality contributions the national leadership is expecting from the NGC.

“For me personally, the ANC was supposed to hold a consultative conference to discuss the challenges that we are facing. We are on our deathbed and don’t think holding the NGC will assist us in rescuing this sinking ship,” said the leader.

The challenges cited by many regional leaders were the verification process. Many are said to be unhappy with the rejection of their membership while holding proof of payment.

The rejection led to many branches not reaching the minimum threshold of 100 members in order to qualify for the NGC.

The provincial elective conference, as mandated by the national leadership’s roadmap, was initially scheduled for the weekend.

The national leadership had directed branches and regions in August to complete their elective conferences by the end of October so that the province could elect new leadership by the close of the month. However, a failure to meet branch audit requirements prevented any region from holding its conference.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za

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