Cape Town - The ANC in the Western Cape says it does not expect any violent or chaotic scenes at its provincial elective conference in the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) this weekend, but just to be sure it has procured the services of a security firm.
The last time the party held a provincial elective conference at the venue was in 2011 and that occasion was marred by chaotic scenes and factionalism between branches as well as an unpaid R1.5 million bill.
Ahead of this weekend’s conference, members of the Interim Provincial Committee (IPC), which has been in office since May 2019, have made assurances that relationships with the CTICC have been mended and security for the event is in hand.
Security will be under the IPC’s deputy co-ordinator, Anwa Dramat, a former head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks.
At a media briefing at the venue yesterday Drama said: “One doesn’t often comment on security matters like these, other than to say that we have a head of security for the conference and we have engaged with the relevant stakeholders and security services. We are also procuring our own in-house security to make sure that the event runs peacefully.”
He said that to limit the prospects of chaos at the three-day event, the IPC leadership had embarked on addressing all of the issues that could potentially “result in difficulty at the conference.”
IPC fund-raiser Unathi Tshotwana said part of the IPC’s mandate over the past five years has been the mending of relationships that had been soured in the past such as the issue of the R1.5 million debt to the CTICC that had been headed to the courts for resolution.
“No one would have thought that today we'll be having a press conference at the CTICC but we are here today because we’ve embarked on mending that relationship. Most of our costs have been managed, and we are still engaging, to make sure nothing transpires like what happened in 2011.”
IPC convenor Lerumo Kalako said the ANC in the province had come a long way from the days when its unity and cohesion had been severely eroded, leading to the party’s electoral fortunes taking a dive. Kalako said they had held peaceful branch general meetings (BGMS) and had met the requirements of the 70% threshold to hold the upcoming conference.
IPC co-ordinator Thandi Makasi said they had made interventions in the Dullah Omar as well as the Southern Cape regions and these would convene their own regional conferences immediately after the weekend’s conference.