ANC North West not happy with little NEC representation, ‘poor’ provincial leadership blamed

The African National Congress in the North West has expressed its dissatisfaction that only three members from the province made it to the NEC, despite submitting 11 names.

Delegates raised eyebrows at the recent national conference when they decided at the last minute not to vote for Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the party’s highest decision-making structure and although observers hailed it for achieving gender parity and getting support from the youth, the ANC in the province is disgruntled. They say they are upset that only three people from the province made it to the NEC, namely Supra Mahumapelo, Dakota Legoete and Thandi Modise.

North West ANC Provincial Spokesperson Tumelo Maruping says, “We are not happy that we could not deposit more. However, we are pleased with the outcome of the conference and we hope the comrades who are elected will continue with the renewal project of the ANC.”

The ANC provincial structure came under fire for backtracking on a decision to support Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader.

But Maruping says it changed its mind during last-minute engagements at Nasrec.

“When you go to the conference, remember this is a conference of delegates where we engage each other and after those engagements we preferred to go move with comrade Zweli Mkhize, together with comrade Fikile Mbalula, comrade Masualle and others and it did not happen.”

The province’s poor representation on the NEC is said to be a reflection of its leadership.

Political Analyst, Andre Duvenhage says, “The lack of representation coming from the North West into the National Executive Committee is an indication of, generally speaking, poor leadership within the province. It is a result of divisions, infighting and leadership not supporting each other, in other words it’s more important to fight than to support the other candidate for a better position. In the nutshell that is the history of the North West. We hope that this can be changed.”

Duvenhage says it’s not a secret that ANC provincial leader, Nono Maloyi, and his support base back Paul Mashatile, but Ramaphosa’s re-election will force them to reposition themselves.

55th ANC National Conference Day 4 I Top 7 Results Announcement: