The ANC’s national working committee (NWC) has resolved to postpone its national executive committee (NEC) meeting after failing to produce reports meant to be discussed at the meeting scheduled for this weekend.
This will be the fourth time the ANC has postponed the meeting of its highest decision-making body between conferences since the budget impasse with the DA.
ANC insiders privy to the NWC meeting, which sat on Monday, said they suspect foul play.
Three NWC members who spoke to TimesLIVE Premium on condition of anonymity said they suspect officials failed to produce reports by design, adding this would further delay any discussion to kick the DA out of the government of national unity (GNU).
The insiders said NEC member David Makhura presented a report similar to what they had resolved on three months ago to reconfigure the GNU. They said NWC members were shocked to learn work had halted on the modalities of a reset GNU.
“We expected the officials would report to us the new terms of reference for the reconstituted GNU. We were presented with the same report the subcommittee had presented three months ago. We had decided to reconfigure the GNU. It didn’t make sense. How we could come back with no report on how we move forward with the GNU, which includes the DA,” one insider said.
It’s a mixture of incompetence and deception. The NWC is a failure, and it speaks to the secretary-general's office because that office receives reports that have to be discussed in the NEC
— ANC insider
In April, the ANC resolved to reconfigure the GNU after the DA rejected the budget presented by minister Enoch Godongwana, challenging it in court.
TimesLIVE reported at the time that NEC member and deputy minister of trade, industry and competition Zuko Godlimpi presented a report about a signed agreement by all GNU partners to avoid another budget saga.
After the NWC meeting in April, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula announced the NEC would decide the fate of the DA in the unity government.
“We have agreed to [press the] reset button by way of ensuring the GNU in future has to be governed by rules, not only the statement of intent. We need rules that govern us as members of the GNU. The ANC does not have an absolute majority to govern. It works with other parties as the largest political party. We also have a responsibility to listen and engage,” Mbalula said at the time.
Another insider said they had expected the NWC would be forced to postpone the NEC meeting “because the officials are afraid the NEC will remove the DA”.
“We don’t have a local government status report, we don’t have an elections report, we don’t have a report on the economy and the budget, we don’t have a report on the regional conferences, we don't have a report on the status of provinces. How do we go to an NEC without the reports? What direction do we give the country?” a second insider said.
On June 30 the NWC postponed its meeting after it failed to produce reports. The ANC has been under growing internal pressure to kick the DA out of the GNU after it rejected the budget due to the proposed VAT hike, initially two percentage points (pp) and then two hikes of 0.5pp, and successfully challenged the tax increase in court.
One insider said: “It’s a mixture of incompetence and deception. The NWC is a failure, and it speaks to the secretary-general's office because that office receives reports that have to be discussed in the NEC. They aim to use smaller parties, such as ActionSA, to facilitate budget passage while allowing the DA to act freely, potentially causing a crisis and remain within the GNU.
“ How do we not have an NEC meeting because you do not want to discuss the DA? Why are we beholden to the DA? The leadership of the ANC is protecting the DA. They are deliberately ensuring they don't have reports. It is by design, so they can say we can’t have an NEC meeting because there are no reports.”
TimesLIVE
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