Gauteng ANC chairperson Panyaza Lesufi at the National Executive Committtee (NEC) in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. Gauteng and KZN will know their fate on Sunday following their poor performance in the May 29 general elections.
Image: X/ANC
The African National Congress (ANC) says it has no choice but to enforce interventions in provincial structures as the party fears it may lose Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu-Natal (KZN) the same way it lost the Western Cape to the Democratic Alliance (DA).
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has revealed the party is mandated to put in place measures in the two provinces as it cannot afford or allow the loss of Gauteng and KZN.
The Western Cape has been a stronghold for the DA since 2009 after the ANC lost the province.
The blue party has managed, successfully, to retain its majority in the province for more than a decade.
In the May 29, 2024, national and provincial elections, the ANC lost Gauteng and KZN. Gauteng got 35% while KZN got 17% electoral support.
Nationally, the ANC’s support dropped by 40%. This is the first time that the party lost the elections since democracy.
The ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) is currently convening for a two-day meeting in Boksburg to determine the future of the provincial executive committees (PECs) in these regions.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the NEC meeting, Mbalula said they had to intervene to save the situation because they could not afford to lose the two provinces.
He mentioned that three options have been presented to the NEC by the National Working Committee (NWC).
These included disbandment of the PECs, reconfiguration of the structures as an option and keeping the status quo as the third option.
“To us Gauteng and KZN,” he said, emphasising the need to recover from losing the elections.
"It’s important that leadership takes decisions and gives guidance to the structures. You [journalists] have been told many things that decisions are being considered for individual interests - that is gossip.
"You know for a fact that any leadership takes a decision, you are not harm-strung because people are gossiping and are talking about things that are untruthful."
It is important for the NEC to intervene in whatever form to strengthen the ANC in these provinces, Mbalula said.
"All other matters that relate to leadership and all that, we said they have been kept in abase, as much as bored people in WhatsApp groups discuss this, but for the ANC, that discussion will happen at the right moment," he reflected on leadership succession matters.
The two provinces will know their fate on Sunday, and the ANC will communicate the decision to structures, Mbalula said.
IOL Politics
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