Northern Cape premier Sylvia Lucas has admitted that differences between the two factions in the province was centred on national leadership of the ANC and not on ideology.
Lucas is backing Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to lead the ANC, while provincial secretary Zamani Saul is backing Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Lucas and Saul are set to square off for the post of chairperson at the party’s Northern Cape conference currently under way in Colesberg.
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Lucas said she believed the bitter fight between her and Saul would not lead to a split in the province and that the party would unite after the weekend election.
"We are currently differing on issues of leadership of the party, there are no ideological differences between the different contenders," she said.
She would be the party’s only female provincial chairperson if elected and said this was not new for her as she was the only female regional chairperson in the province in the 1990s.
"The ANC invests in all its cadres equally, I am fully equipped to deliver even more on its developmental agenda," she said.
The provincial and national ANC criticised Lucas for her cabinet reshuffle on the eve of the conference this week, which she did not consult the ANC on.
She said she would reveal the reasons for her reshuffle "in due course" and did not believe she had erred in the manner she conducted the cabinet shake up.
Meanwhile, her key supporters in the province, members of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), were preparing to put up a fight during the discussion on credentials, due to take place on Friday afternoon.
ANCYL Northern Cape secretary Neo Maneng said there were irregularities that had not been dealt with in three regions. He said some delegates registered were not legitimate branch members and there was "cloning" of branch members in one region, meaning that the number of delegates had been exaggerated and legitimate branch members had been left out.
He warned that if the conference did not accept the league’s demand to re-run the gathering, it would petition the ANC national executive committee (NEC) to intervene and it may even consider going to court.
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