ANC moves to replace Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Committee

The African National Congress will appoint a Provincial Task Team to replace the party’s Provincial Executive Committee in the Eastern Cape after it failed to hold an elective conference.

This was announced by ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula during a media briefing on Friday, following the party’s National Executive Committee meeting.

Mbalula says a Provincial Task Team will also be established in Gauteng as part of what the ANC describes as the “regularization of organizational business” in the two provinces.

He said in line with the ANC constitution, the NEC had approved the establishment of Provincial Task Teams in place of Provincial Executive Committees whose terms had expired before provincial conferences could be convened.

“The ANC constitution is designed to respond to human beings, to nature and realities of life and of politics,” said Mbalula.

He stressed that the developments would not affect governance in either province.

“The governments of these provinces are not affected by these organizational matters of the movement. The work of the state continues,” he said.

Mbalula also rejected suggestions that the Eastern Cape ANC had been disbanded.

“The Eastern Cape is not disbanded, its term lapsed, so the ANC have approved that we constitute a provincial task team,” he said.

The ANC’s National Working Committee is expected to finalise the composition of the task teams on Monday, with announcements expected later in the week.

According to Mbalula, the Gauteng Provincial Task Team will be reconstituted following an evaluation process to ensure it meets constitutional requirements, similar to processes undertaken in KwaZulu-Natal.