Ntombela, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, the party's national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, and others are alleged to have used money to influence the outcomes of the conference. 

President Ramaphosa beat his rival, Zweli Mkhize, with a margin of 579 votes. 

Meanwhile, Ntombela has condemned these allegations. Spokesperson in the deputy convenor's office, Sello Pietersen, says Ntombela is of the view that these "unsubstantiated and baseless lies" were peddled by individuals not only opposed to the unity and renewal of the ANC, but also to further widen the gap between [party members] also known as "comrades".

Pietersen says Ntombela also holds a firm view that these allegations, which he labels as lies, were intended solely to dent her image and destroy her credibility going into the much-awaited ANC provincial elective conference, which is set to take place in early 2023.

"The Deputy Convenor of the [ANC's IPC] in the Free State, Comrade Sisi Ntombela has noted with disgust misleading reports about her which have since gained tract on social media.

"The allegations, which have no truth, are that comrade Ntombela dispersed cash to delegates at the recent ANC national elective conference held in Nasrec, Gauteng province from 16 – 20 December 2022.

"These mischievous allegations are particularly worrisome to comrade Ntombela who has always condemned the use of money to influence conference outcomes, and also dedicated much of her political life to the unity of the African National Congress."

National media reports suggest that a complaint has been laid with the party's electoral committee against Ramaphosa and Mantashe following these allegations.

"Ntombela has also indicated that she will not be commenting on this matter any further," Pietersen adds.

The IPC has for the fourth time in a row failed to prepare and hold its elective provincial conference as expected.

ALSO READ: Fourth attempt of ANC Free State conference fails

The party was set to hold a conference in May/July but it failed. It then postponed it to September, and again it failed to have a conference. Later it was pushed further into October, and again for the third time, it announced that it failed to prepare and organise the conference.

The party has been riddled with factions and has been unable to carry out the province's mandate at a provincial conference.

The Free State ANC has also recently become litigious with irate members dragging it to court over various issues, including the failure to hold conferences.

OFM News previously reported that at least seven ANC wards in the Bloemfontein-based Mangaung Metro Municipality were flagged by the national ANC General Manager (GM), Febe Potgieter, following complaints of alleged fraud.

ALSO READ: ANC sends team to investigate alleged branch fraud

In a letter addressed to the upper structures of the party in different provinces, including the Free State ANC’s GM, she said there were complaints about QR codes with scanners which were used to scan Identity Documents (ID), and a failure to receive QR codes.

OFM News