Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane, who is seeking re-election as ANC provincial chair, moved to assure the safety of delegates attending the provincial elective congress in East London, saying security has been beefed up.
Mabuyane, a key ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who himself is expected to run for a second term during the party’s national elective conference in December, was elected ANC provincial chair during a chaotic conference in 2017 — which then ANC deputy president Ramaphosa dubbed a festival of chairs — as supporters of then premier Phumulo Masualle and Mabuyane exchanged blows and threw chairs at each other.
In a media briefing on Friday, on the backdrop of the registration of delegates, Mabuyane said the party had done everything it could to ensure the conference does not “degenerate” into chaos, reminiscent of the 2017 conference when some delegates were left injured and some had to be hospitalised in the chaos that ensued over credentials.
While he said the party was not going into the conference “as if we are going into a battlefield”, he stressed that “the issue of safety of delegates is guaranteed”.
While there was “tightened security”, delegates would be free to express their views in a manner that helped the ANC to move forward.
He said the conference was closely watched, as it was a “precursor to the [upcoming] national conference ... people are already thinking about what is going to happen in December”.
The province played a crucial role in getting Ramaphosa elected ANC president at Nasrec in Johannesburg in December 2017, defeating ANC veteran Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was viewed to be close to the faction of the party supporting former president Jacob Zuma.
“Nasrec was a Damascus moment. When we speak about renewal, we are saying we must be renewed ourselves, and do what is organisationally correct ... 6.7-million people of [the] Eastern Cape are looking forward to the meeting, they are hoping it finds panacea in addressing socioeconomic challenges [such as the] high levels of unemployment,” Mabuyane said.
The Eastern Cape is the ANC’s third-largest province, behind KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. The ANC has eight regions in the largely rural province — Nelson Mandela Bay, Dr WB Rubusana, Chris Hani, Sarah Baartman, Joe Gqabi, Amathole, Alfred Nzo, and OR Tambo.
Mabuyane is facing a stiff challenge from public works MEC Babalo Madikizela, and legislature deputy speaker Mlibo Qoboshiyane.
The media briefing was attended by the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) members including Aaron Motsoaledi, Zizi Kodwa, and Thabang Makwetla.
About 1,500 voting delegates are expected to attend the gathering. “We have our heads up, we are ready,” the premier said. He said more than 670 ANC branches in the province were in good standing.
A final verification report expected on Friday would determine how many delegates attend the gathering.
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