ANC stalwarts unhappy over lekgotla agenda
Johannesburg – African National Congress stalwarts are unhappy that their proposal to hold a separate national consultative conference (NCC) seems to have been left off the agenda at the party’s lekgotla.
“The stalwarts noted with disappointment that the de-linking of the NCC from the policy conference was not mentioned in the press briefing and statement of the last NEC,” they said in a statement on Friday.
The ANC’s national executive committee met last week to discuss issues affecting the country and the party.
Party elders hoped their proposal to separate the NCC from the party’s policy conference would feature prominently at the lekgotla.
However, the stalwarts said it appeared that from media reports and the ANC’s own media statement that the matter was not tabled.
Over 100 ANC veterans, including three Rivonia trialists Ahmed Kathrada, Andrew Mlangeni and Denis Goldberg, as well as Reverend Frank Chikane and poet Wally Serote, insist that the NCC should be a separate event.
Leadership
The stalwarts formed a group called “For the Sake of Our Future” after the ANC’s poor performance in the 2016 local government elections. They want the party to re-evaluate its values.
They want the party’s leadership to step down and for an interim body to lead the ANC to its policy and national elective conferences later this year.
Former TRC commissioner Fazel Randera said the stalwarts believed the NCC was an ongoing discussion with senior ANC leaders.
He said the veterans would ask the party for a three-a-side meeting. It would include Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ council representatives, the stalwarts, and three ANC officials.
“The NCC should not just be a single event, but part of processes that should go beyond both the policy and elective conferences of the party. We need to get the process going because time is running out,” said Randera.
The stalwarts insist they do not want to undermine structures or officials in the ANC.
