The former ANC President Thabo Mbeki has called on party members to put an end to positional fighting and return to the revolutionary values of the movement.

Addressing the ANC Free State leadership and alliance partners at the Kingdom Academy in Welkom, Mbeki stressed the importance of revolutionary discipline and unity to safeguard the ANC's mission.

Mbeki, who is in Welkom for a two-day political visit, where he is deliberating on intervention aimed at evaluating the advancements achieved since the ANC FS Interim Provincial Committee pledged to renew the ANC in the province. He emphasised the ANC would fail to "defend the revolution" without dedicated revolutionaries within its ranks.

"How do we therefore transform ourselves into these revolutionaries?" He shared a private conversation he had with the provincial chairperson, referring to a statement by former ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe about members scrambling for positions. "People fighting for positions to be deployed as MPs, MPLs, and so on, to get money... I asked if that happens in the Free State, and he nodded," Mbeki revealed.

The Free State ANC has been embroiled in internal strife and allegations of factionalism, with members reportedly fighting for influential positions. Recently, the provincial ANC Youth League (ANCYL) expressed deep concerns about the exclusion of young people from provincial leadership roles. ANCYL Chairperson Xolani Tseletsele criticised the composition of the new Provincial Executive Council (Exco), noting young voices had been sidelined.

"While we welcome the appointment of the new Premier, Comrade MaQueen Mathae, we are disappointed by the exclusion of young capable people aged 35 and under," Tseletsele said. "Our call for the inclusion of young people continues to fall on deaf ears. We must question why Comrade Zama Sigwebela, the only young member of the Free State Legislature from the Youth League, has been overlooked without the Youth League even being consulted."

Speculation arose when former Premier and Provincial Chairperson Mxolisi Dukwana was excluded from the new executive council announced by Letsoha-Mathae. While some people suggested this exclusion had created divisions, provincial leaders made it clear that there was no such rift within the party.

The Free State ANC's internal conflicts have also been further fueled by allegations of financial mismanagement and tender irregularities. Earlier this year, a leaked audio recording of former Free State MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture, and Recreation, Dimakatso Mahasa, raised concerns about the handling of public funds. Mahasa questioned the procedural integrity of an R8 million expenditure on the Premier’s Soccer Tournament and R3 million spent on a failed Freedom Day celebration in Thaba Nchu. She was later dismissed by Dukwana, who was the Premier at the time.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi dg