The Western Cape ANC’s largest region will elect new leaders this weekend.
The province’s Dullah Omar region (Cape Metro) has been without elected leaders since the regional structure was disbanded in February last year.
The region, which for many years was the home of at least half of the ANC’s members in the Western Cape, has been fighting for survival and relevance in the past few years, according to the ANC’s own assessment.
In the November 2021 elections, the party’s representation in the City of Cape Town went below the 20% mark.
An internal party report seen by the Sunday Times in March 2022 said the ANC was “non-existent” in the metro that has been governed by the DA since 2006.
The report revealed that at the time, only three branches in the Cape metro met the requirements to participate in official party activities.
“In the Dullah Omar region, the ANC is non-existent and lacks organisational presence in 30 wards. This absence is considered politically fatal,” read the report. There are 116 wards in the region, meaning there are 116 potential ANC branches, it continued.
On Thursday, the party’s newly elected provincial secretary Neville Delport claimed all the issues that led to the disbandment of the regional executive committee (REC) have been resolved.
“The preparatory team was appointed by the interim provincial committee in 2022. They took the region to at least 60 branches,” he said. “Our 70% threshold for Dullah Omar (to hold a conference) is 71 and we have 72 branches that have qualified out of 102 potential branches in the region,” he added.
Delport said the region had about 11,000 members and remained the party’s largest in the province. He estimated the provincial membership to be between 70,000 and 80,000.
The Dullah Omar region had about 20,000 members about 10 years ago. The conference is set to take place on Saturday and Sunday in Cape Town where 300 voting delegates will elect their new leaders.
When the REC was disbanded, the then-convener of the interim provincial committee (IPC), Lerumo Kalako, said they had mandated all regions to ensure branches were prepared and that intensified recruitment processes were conducted.
“The IPC, having assessed the performance of the (Dullah Omar) region is not convinced that in its current state, it would meet the deadline for holding a regional conference,” he said at the time.
“The IPC has taken a decision to dissolve the Dullah Omar region and mandated the interim provincial working committee to ensure that the region was assisted in preparing for its conference.”
Meanwhile, the party is hoping to wrestle two west coast municipalities — Matzikama and Witzenberg — from the DA. Until his election as the ANC provincial secretary, Delport was the ANC’s chair in that region.
Delport said the ANC has tabled motions of no confidence in both DA-governed councils which are scheduled to be debated later this month.
“We have submitted a motion in Matzikama with our partners the EFF, Patriotic Alliance and GOOD based on allegations of maladministration in the municipality by the executive mayor who allegedly appointed senior managers without following a proper process,” he said.
“In Witzenberg, the opposition and the ANC sponsored a motion and the DA and the municipal manager walked out of that meeting with the speaker. We were the majority in that meeting,” said Delport.
He said the party submitted a new motion on Wednesday which will be debated on August 25.
TimesLIVE
Western Cape ANC's biggest region to elect new leaders this weekend
Image: Ziphozonke Lushaba
The Western Cape ANC’s largest region will elect new leaders this weekend.
The province’s Dullah Omar region (Cape Metro) has been without elected leaders since the regional structure was disbanded in February last year.
The region, which for many years was the home of at least half of the ANC’s members in the Western Cape, has been fighting for survival and relevance in the past few years, according to the ANC’s own assessment.
In the November 2021 elections, the party’s representation in the City of Cape Town went below the 20% mark.
An internal party report seen by the Sunday Times in March 2022 said the ANC was “non-existent” in the metro that has been governed by the DA since 2006.
The report revealed that at the time, only three branches in the Cape metro met the requirements to participate in official party activities.
“In the Dullah Omar region, the ANC is non-existent and lacks organisational presence in 30 wards. This absence is considered politically fatal,” read the report. There are 116 wards in the region, meaning there are 116 potential ANC branches, it continued.
On Thursday, the party’s newly elected provincial secretary Neville Delport claimed all the issues that led to the disbandment of the regional executive committee (REC) have been resolved.
“The preparatory team was appointed by the interim provincial committee in 2022. They took the region to at least 60 branches,” he said. “Our 70% threshold for Dullah Omar (to hold a conference) is 71 and we have 72 branches that have qualified out of 102 potential branches in the region,” he added.
Delport said the region had about 11,000 members and remained the party’s largest in the province. He estimated the provincial membership to be between 70,000 and 80,000.
The Dullah Omar region had about 20,000 members about 10 years ago. The conference is set to take place on Saturday and Sunday in Cape Town where 300 voting delegates will elect their new leaders.
When the REC was disbanded, the then-convener of the interim provincial committee (IPC), Lerumo Kalako, said they had mandated all regions to ensure branches were prepared and that intensified recruitment processes were conducted.
“The IPC, having assessed the performance of the (Dullah Omar) region is not convinced that in its current state, it would meet the deadline for holding a regional conference,” he said at the time.
“The IPC has taken a decision to dissolve the Dullah Omar region and mandated the interim provincial working committee to ensure that the region was assisted in preparing for its conference.”
Meanwhile, the party is hoping to wrestle two west coast municipalities — Matzikama and Witzenberg — from the DA. Until his election as the ANC provincial secretary, Delport was the ANC’s chair in that region.
Delport said the ANC has tabled motions of no confidence in both DA-governed councils which are scheduled to be debated later this month.
“We have submitted a motion in Matzikama with our partners the EFF, Patriotic Alliance and GOOD based on allegations of maladministration in the municipality by the executive mayor who allegedly appointed senior managers without following a proper process,” he said.
“In Witzenberg, the opposition and the ANC sponsored a motion and the DA and the municipal manager walked out of that meeting with the speaker. We were the majority in that meeting,” said Delport.
He said the party submitted a new motion on Wednesday which will be debated on August 25.
TimesLIVE
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