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Mpumalanga’s Umkhonto we Sizwe Council has called on the suspension of the list conference following alleged fraud in the province’s branches.
The council also warned during a media conference on Wednesday that Mpumalanga was a ticking time-bomb and that the tensions within the party could be a crucible for the ANC’s demise.
The council’s gripe is with the list conference in the province where decade-long allegations of bogus branches and manipulation of processes to suit the current provincial executive committee have been raised.
Council executive member, Jacques Modipane, said that civil society was on the brink of taking matters into its own hands due to the corruption engulfing the Mpumalanga ANC.
“The MK Council has advised the structures in Mpumalanga to hold on fire until all the internal avenues are exhausted and advised civil society and the ANC to assemble a team to see the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) and bring to his attention this imminent disaster looming in Mpumalanga,” Modipane said.
“We want to say to the president to meet the team before Christmas. It is the council’s belief that we don’t want to see another Free State, North West or Zimbabwe here in Mpumalanga. Our warning to the president is that … please see this team. We don’t wan to collect bodies on the streets, people not able to go to work and schools being disturbed,” he added.
Modipane said that the list conference must be suspended while the Mpumalanga irregularities were being investigated.
He said that civil society protests had a tendency to flare up and degenerate into lawlessness.
“There’s a possibility that people might not be able to vote next year as we’re about to pull the trigger. It will be a mass action and I wish it’s going to be peaceful. The issue here is that processes were not followed, they were perverted,” he said.
The council could not be drawn into naming leaders that were behind the corruption in the ANC.
“We all know that the Pope is the head of the Catholic Church. In due time people of Mpumalanga will know who is responsible for the mess. My assessment is that it all started in 2008 and the monster began raising its head,” Modipane said.
Since Deputy President David Mabuza left Mpumalanga after the ANC’s Nasrec conference, the struggle for control of the province has intensified.
The province has failed to convene a provincial general council to elect Mabuza’s replacement as provincial chairperson.
A faction is trying to get a court ruling that dissolves the PEC and by implication nullify the outcome of the Nasrec conference that saw President Ramaphosa’s election.
The case was expected to sit last week but has since been postponed “sine die” (indefinitely).
The faction is worried that the delay could see the case going back to court after the list conference has been concluded and too late for anything to be done because the general election will be around the corner.
Acting provincial ANC chairperson, Mandla Ndlovu, could not be reached for comment.
