PEC vows to deal with disgruntled ANC members

The ANC’s provincial executive committee (PEC) says it will deal with members who took the party to court to challenge the selection of the newly elected Dullah Omar region leadership.

The party announced the names of the region’s leadership elected at the weekend, including Xolani Sotashe as chairperson, Joseph Thee as deputy, JJ Tyhalisisu as secretary with Charlotte Heynes his deputy, and Patrick Mngxunyeni as treasurer. All of them were re-elected to their previous positions.

Provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said the party had warned its members that “to participate in a conference and then upon losing outcomes, go to court to lodge complaints against pre-conference processes is mischievous, dishonest and an abuse of legal processes, and will not be tolerated”.

Jacobs said the party would continue to refine its internal processes to ensure that they kept up with the changing times and the evolving nature of membership.

Disgruntled branch members held a press conference yesterday at Solomon Mahlangu hall in Khayelitsha and described the recent conference as “corrupted”.

The unhappy members attempted to stop regional congresses from taking place last weekend, but failed when the Western Cape High Court dismissed the application with costs. The applicants sought to nullify the conference and its decision.

Jacobs said the party acknowledged that the conference had not been without its challenges.

“Our view is that conferences do not just happen.

“The process of taking the ANC to conference is long and intense and members are free to challenge these processes at any of the stages, be it at BGMs stage, audit stage, review or audit stage.”

He said there was “enough recourse within the organisation to make sure all processes met the given guidelines”.