ANC conference: Battle brews

The political landscape within the ANC's Peter Mokaba Region remains tense, as the party's elective conference, now twice postponed, is rescheduled once more for this coming weekend.

- Koketšo Sekhwela

The latest delay stemmed from unresolved branch disputes, notably over discrepancies between the elected conference delegates and the official conference register.

The National Dispute Resolution Committee (NDRC) is under pressure to finalise the escalated disputes in time for the conference. The Provincial Dispute Resolutions Committee (PDRC) chaired by the Premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba as party member, reportedly gave the green light to 31 contested branches to participate in the conference. Dissatisfied branches, however, have since lodged an appeal with the NDRC.

Regional spokesperson Adolph Rapetswa expressed confidence that the latest date would hold, citing that a request had been made to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula for the NDRC to wrap up its work by at least today. This would allow sufficient time for the registration of delegates before the conference begins.