Some ANC provinces are hoping the party leadership will extend the cut-off date to allow branches to properly convene to nominate their preferred candidates for the December electoral conference.
Out of more than 600 branches in the Eastern Cape that qualify to attend the conference, less than 200 had convened their branch general meetings (BGMs) to nominate the top six and additional national executive members for the ANC's December conference.
There is still a glimmer of hope for provinces who've been lagging behind after a memo issued by ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile on Friday.
Mashatile wrote that following a special NEC meeting on Thursday, he would: “Engage the electoral committee on the possibility of extending the cut-off date for BGMs by a few days,” adding that the outcome would be communicated this week.
Speaking to Sowetan, ANC Eastern Cape spokesperson Loyiso Magqashela said things were looking “very bad” for the province.
Magqashela said all was not well as the verification report had not come out after their meeting with the national leadership last Wednesday.
“The last time 180 branches had convened, some of them were waiting for a verification report. We're targeting 641 branches and if by Monday we're well below that figure it means we've got a problem."
The deadline for BGMs to convene is Tuesday October 25. If the Eastern Cape fails to convene a substantial number of BGMs it could have a direct impact on the provincial chairperson Oscar Mabuyane's ambitions to become the next deputy president of the ANC.
While the province dropped to third place in terms of ANC membership nationally, the Eastern Cape still has a substantial number of delegates and will be sending the third-largest voting bloc to the national conference after KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, respectively.
Maqgashela said they had been struggling over quorum – which he attributed to the new system.
Hw said there were issues with the QR codes in that they sometimes arrived late or at times when they did, they were also incorrect. He said that because the system was centralised in Johannesburg, when they encountered problems, they also struggled to get hold of staff at Luthuli House to assist them, even when they were not on strike.
Meanwhile, in Limpopo, things were going much smoother according to provincial spokesperson Jimmy Machaka.
However, Machaka said they could benefit from a week's extension.
“So far, BGMs are going very peacefully and the only challenge is the scanner." He said they would make an assessment after the provincial executive committee had met. “If the numbers are low, any extension will be accepted,” he said.
Mpumalanga provincial secretary Muzi Chirwa said out of 60% BGMs that sat from their 367 branches, the province had received only two disputes emanating from branches in Bushbuckridge. These were mainly due to system challenges which did not recognise some of the members and thus resulted in branches not being able to form a quorum.
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