Only 36 of the 60 ANC branches in Nelson Mandela Bay are in good standing, according to the party’s Eastern Cape spokesperson, Gift Ngqondi.
This means that the Bay ANC – which is gearing up to hold a regional general council to elect a new chair – needs at least six more branches to be audited and declared in good standing before it can proceed.
But, according to the party’s regional secretary, Themba Xathula, only four branches have yet to hold their branch general meetings. Ngqondi said the Bay leadership was meant to have held its regional general council in March but failed to do so because nearly half the branches in the region were not in good standing.
To be in good standing, each branch has to have at least 100 paid-up members.
“An audit report revealed that [by August], out of 60 ANC branches in the region, only 36 [were] in good standing.
“For the [general council] to sit, at least 70% need to have sat and that has not yet happened,” Ngqondi said.
The chair has been vacant since ANC councillor Andile Lungisa stepped down in March 2017 after being ordered to do so by the ANC’s national executive.
Xathula confirmed that the vacancy was meant to have been filled in March, but the region had not held a general council after failing a membership audit.
“There were problems with branches [in going] to [branch general meetings] to elect branch leadership.
“There [are] four branches that still need to sit.
“They have been given their mandate.
“Once that process is completed, we’ll get the nod from head office.
“They will tell us when [to hold] the [regional general council],” Xathula said.
Former ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe forbade Lungisa from putting his name up as a regional candidate because at the time he was a member of the provincial executive.
Bay deputy chair Phumzile Tshuni has been holding the fort until the vacancy is filled.
Xathula would not be drawn on a possible candidate to fill the vacancy.