Western Cape ANC forced to change provincial conference date again

21st October 2022 By: News24Wire

 Western Cape ANC forced to change provincial conference date again

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape has once again postponed its provincial conference.

The party's Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) met on Monday on a virtual platform. 

According to the party, the IPC received a report from the Interim Provincial Working Committee (IPWC) and considered the progress made towards preparations for the provincial and national conferences.

ANC Western Cape spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said: "The IPC is encouraged that since its last meeting, the province has been able to convene three successful regional conferences in the West Coast, Overberg and Boland, with the Central Karoo only one branch general meeting away from holding its regional conference.

"This would result in four out of six regional conferences [being held] in the province."

Mtsweni added that there had been steady progress made in the Dullah Omar region, which was moving closer to its 70% threshold.

Still, party officials remain concerned about the slow progress in the Southern Cape region, which has had to deal with rezoning of wards and challenges with its membership system.

"The IPC has mandated the working committee to urgently look at strengthening the team in the Southern Cape to ensure that the region moves towards organising its conference," he said.

Mtsweni added that the IPC had agreed that all regions must hold their regional conferences before the provincial conference, which the meeting resolved to convene from 30 November to 3 December in Cape Town.

It's just the latest in series of conference dates announced by the ANC. In July, they said that it would be held between 31 August and 2 September, and then in August, they set new dates of 30 September to 2 October.

An interim leadership structure has been in place in the Western Cape since 2019 when the party's provincial executive committee was disbanded.

The Western Cape will be represented by 283 delegates at the ANC's 55th national conference in December, its biggest delegation in the last five years.

"Branch general meetings (BGMs) are taking place at a rapid pace, and the IPC has agreed to allow branches their space to exercise their democratic responsibilities to choose the next leaders of the ANC without any undue influence," Mtsweni said.