African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General, Fikile Mbalula, says President Cyril Ramaphosa has told both the Ukrainian and Russian Presidents that South Africa is against the war during his Africa Peace Mission to both countries with other African leaders recently.
Mbalula was speaking at the ANC’s 9th Western Cape Provincial Conference.
Some 700 delegates are attending the conference in Cape Town to elect a new provincial structure after several years under interim leadership.
Mbalula says South Africa’s position is clear on the East European conflict.
“They make a lot of noise about Ukraine like we are for invasion, but we are not. I am going to explain to you like the ANC and its government’s non-aligned position, and then say stop the war. They say we have not taken a stance; we have taken a stand; we are against the war.”
Russia-Ukraine Conflict | Analysis of African Peace Mission, Putin arrest warrant:
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We equally have a task to rebuild the African National Congress! #ANCWCProvincialConference #RebuildingAndRenewal https://t.co/lBLxVdNBtx pic.twitter.com/cOZqFgZFuq
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Cde Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) June 24, 2023
Provincial leadership
Leader of the ANC in the Western Cape Legislature, Cameron Dugmore, says members of the party should unite behind the new provincial leadership that will be elected at the party’s 9th provincial conference, currently underway in Cape Town.
Several names have been touted to contest for the provincial leadership positions, including those of Dugmore, Richard Dyantyi, Lerumo Kalako, Anwa Dramat, and Thandi Makhasi.
Dugmore says the party will be stronger in the province after the conference.
“Whoever is elected, we need to unite behind that leadership, and we don’t need to have battles after the provincial conference, based on the outcomes. We’ve got an election to fight, we’ve got an ANC in this province to rebuild, we’ve been winning by-elections, we actually took a ward from the DA in Barrydale, and we’ve been holding on to all of our wards, so our issue is that we need to be competitive, we need to be visible, we need to build integrity for the ANC in this province, and contribute as the Western Cape ANC to a national victory next year.”
ANC’s 9th Western Cape provincial conference finally got under way following delays:
