Debate on dual membership heats up at ANC's National General Council

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has called on the National General Council (NGC) to take a hard stance on dual membership.

The NGC kicked off on Monday with a political overview report by President Cyril Ramaphosa and organisational report by Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula.

On Tuesday, the close to 2,000 delegates from all provinces are expected to break into commissions to discuss policy reviews at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.

Speaking in the morning on Tuesday before getting into commissions, ANC provincial spokesperson Fanle Sibisi said KwaZulu-Natal will lead a discussion on dual membership to do away with it.

He said the province’s decision was informed by the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) decision to contest the ANC in the local government elections next year and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) members’ continued keeping of ANC membership.

"This was part of our Provincial General Council’s resolutions, and we are determined to lead it in the commissions. It's not a new policy proposal since it is in our party’s constitution that any member who decides to contest the ANC cannot do so while a member of the party. Such members automatically expel themselves from the movement," said Sibisi.

The province was backed by the ANC Youth League, which called for the withdrawal of SACP members from government deployment.

The league's president, Colleen Malatji, said the dual membership was fine when the SACP and the ANC were in alliance, and since the SACP resolved to contest the ANC, they must cease to be ANC members.

"As the ANC Youth League, we are saying they must choose whether they want to be with the ANC or the SACP. Those who are deployed by the ANC must be withdrawn because they are no longer representing our policies. You can't be in ANC's deployment while you are anti-ANC," said Malatji.

Besides SACP’s public declaration that it will contest the ANC in the next year’s local government elections while staying in the Tripartite Alliance, which includes ANC and Cosatu, it is believed that the KwaZulu-Natal ANC’s target was the MKP.

It was previously reported that the MKP’s strategy of holding dual membership had disrupted the ANC’s Provincial Task Team’s drive to revive branches, particularly in the biggest regions of eThekwini and Moses Mabhida (Pietermaritzburg).

Regional leadership in the two regions had complained that their branch meetings were being attended by people who they knew had openly associated with the MKP, but could not prevent them from attending because they were still members in good standing.

It was in these two regions that the ANC suffered a big electoral defeat in last year’s general elections, where most of its members voted for the MKP.

It is also believed that dual membership has caused many branches to fail in holding their general meetings and electing new leadership, hindering the province's ability to hold an elective conference.

In August, the ANC had issued a roadmap directing all its 11 regions to hold a conference in preparation for the provincial conference last month; however, not a single region has elected a new leadership. This was attributed to chaos in the branches.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za