Party bosses get tough on membership renewals

Eastern Cape ANC bosses are threatening to charge any branch or regional secretary who fails to remind members to renew their party membership.

According to ANC rules, party members have a grace period of up to three months to renew their membership after the expiry date.

ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane said in the past, members were allowed to pay off arrears even after the three-month grace period.

“We used to allow people to renew their membership anytime after the expiry date and allow them to pay off arrears,”Mabuyane said.

“We have since stopped allowing such grace period.

“Everyone has to renew his or her membership within three months from the expiry date, failing which their membership will lapse.”

The announcement comes on the eve of a very busy year for the ruling party, especially in the Eastern Cape, as in 2017 the party will convene a provincial conference, a national general council as well as a national elective conference in December next year.

Mabuyane said now that the issue of paying off arrears was out of the picture, the party was forced to hold branch and regional secretaries responsible for reminding members to renew their subscriptions regularly.

According to ANC policies, members need to have unbroken service for a certain number of years before ascending to leadership positions, making it crucial for them to have their membership subscriptions up to date.

These conditions have been at the centre of a membership form scandal in various parts of the country, including Buffalo City.

This, after the media uncovered a scam involving a bank teller at a Mdantsane FNB branch who helped certain members of the party backdate membership forms to enable new members to take part in branch general meetings to favour a certain ANC faction.

The outcomes of an investigation have yet to be made public.