The plenary sessions take place at the Imvelo Safari Lodge in Bloemfontein, where one of the African National Conference (ANC) factions in the Mangaung region is holding an elective conference.
This followed a failed High Court application by aggressive ANC members seeking an injunction to prevent the party’s Interim Regional Committee (IRC) from going ahead with the conference.
A faction aligned with former Free State ANC deputy chairman Thabo Manyoni is convening a conference at the Bon Hotel.
The separatist faction elected its leadership. Mangaung Metro Councilor Patrick Manyakoana was elected chairman.
Manyakoane is among the 8 Mangaung metro councilors who were expelled from the IRC party in August. They were found guilty of disobeying the organizational code and defying ousted council whip Vumile Nickel.
Manyakoane’s deputy, Mannapule Ntamo – a businessman and former senior government official – was part of the group that led the legal process that led to the dissolution of the party’s provincial executive committee, elected in May 2018.
Other elected officials at Bon Hotel are Tanyana Selebedi as Secretary, Millicent Matingo as Deputy Secretary and finally Lebahang Masoetsa as Treasurer.
Representatives of the two warring factions in the trouble-torn Mangaung region, as well as former provincial party treasurer and IPC chief Mxolisi Dukwana, prime minister and IPC deputy chief Sisi Ntambela attended the meeting on Saturday. Dukwana and Ntombela are among those vying for the post of provincial chairman of the party.
Earlier, the ANC Free State Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) called an urgent meeting with the warring parties in a bid to defuse simmering political tensions. The IPC was established in May last year after the Supreme Court of Appeal dissolved the regional executive committee in April last year.
Simmering political tensions have led to the two Mangaunga factions convening parallel conferences in Bloemfontein.
