ANC in the Eastern Cape 'loses' half its members

The ANC in the Eastern Cape which lost the Nelson Mandela Metro to the DA in recent local government elections has lost more than 50% of its membership in five years.

The numbers have plummeted from 225 000 in 2012 to 105 000 as at February 2017‚ according to the party’s preliminary audit.

ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane blamed the drop on membership rigging‚ and said the picture may improve by June as the party’s national executive committee‚ which met last weekend‚ had ordered all provinces to deal “harshly with gatekeepers”.

He described gatekeeping as a tendency by either regional secretaries or organisers and branch secretaries to destroy or hide the membership information of those they viewed as supporting rival factions during audit processes.

Full story in the Daily Dispatch

- TMG Digital/DispatchLIVE