The African National Congress (ANC) National Working Committee (NWC) will meet with the Free State Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) on Monday after visiting branches on the rebuilding and reinforcing programme.
The meeting happened under tight security.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa formed part of the meeting, which was preceded on Saturday by the NWC’s engagements with regional structures and branches.
Members of the ANC National Working Committee met with structures in Mangaung, Xhariep, Lejweleputswa, Thabo Mofutsanyana, and Fezile Dabi on the party’s renewal programme.
The party says the NWC programme is aimed at strengthening organisational structures and deepening engagement with leadership in the province.
The governing party says its goal is to have an organisation that will be responsive to the people and deliver improved services. This is also part of preparing the party’s machinery for the 2026 local government elections.
The National Working Committee also met with the ANC top officials to deliberate on what came out from the structures.
The NWC will then meet with the PEC on Monday on the way forward.
Reconfiguration claims
The NWC refutes claims of a possible reconfiguration of the Free State leadership. ANC treasurer general Dr Gwen Ramokgopa has expressed the party’s confidence in the Provincial Executive Committee.
Dr Ramokgopa is one of the members of the ANC National Working Committee visiting the five regions in the province this weekend. This is part of the party’s renewal efforts to strengthen the organisation in the province, its regions, and its branches.
Dr Ramokgopa commends the ANC Mangaung region, stating that following the decline of the party’s support across the country in the 2024 elections, the Mangaung regional structures still have strong support from branches.
Ramokgopa rubbishes claims that the visit comes amid tensions in the party’s provincial leadership.
She says the interactions aim to strengthen the party and ensure service delivery. “Should there be issues that arise, we will deal with them at that time, but we don’t want to be presumptuous; we have come here to engage, and we will respond to the issues that arise.”
Land expropriation
The ANC treasurer general has also touched on the US President’s stance on the expropriation of land, calling on branch members to be abreast of the policies and laws to reduce the misinterpretation of the country’s law.
“It’s far from land grab. It is the systematic constitutional legal process of ensuring that distribution of land especially to those that we dispose of a very important principle in the constitution of.”
She dismisses Elon Musk’s remarks that his Starlink company cannot operate in South Africa because he is not black as baseless. “There is no excuse when we celebrate some of our democracy we acknowledge the South Africa belongs to all living however it’s also important to say that South Africa has an obligation to address the past inequalities and the past dispositions and ensure that democracy is positive for all of us especially those that have been previously oppressed and that makes it black people in general.”
The ANC NEC, which is the party’s highest decision-making body, will meet in Bloemfontein on Sunday and thereafter meet with the National Working Committee.
The party’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to be part of the engagements and also meet the Provincial executive committee on Monday.
