The ANC has revealed that part of its ANC NEC meeting, which took place on Monday, has been tasked with deliberating on the recent developments in Venezuela.
Party spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri confirmed during a doorstep briefing in Rustenburg that the NEC will deliberate on the implications of the current Venezuelan crisis, alongside pressing internal matters, as the party gears up for its anniversary celebrations this weekend.
Scheduled for Saturday at the Moruleng Stadium in Rustenburg, these celebrations will mark the ANC’s 114 years as a liberation movement. The event presents an opportunity for ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa to deliver a keynote address that outlines the organisation’s objectives for the forthcoming year.
Highlighting the NEC’s role as the party’s primary decision-making body between conferences, Bhengu-Motsiri pointed out that the Venezuelan situation is not merely a peripheral issue but that its gravity necessitates careful political discussion within the party.
“We are also going to be discussing the developments in Venezuela and what has happened there. We are going to adopt a formal message of the ANC on the matter of Venezuela, and we wanted to wait for this national executive committee, given the gravity of what has happened there, so that we can have a political discussion first, so we don’t just issue an occasional statement,” Bhengu-Motsiri stated.
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The NEC also meets amid rising tensions between the party and one of its alliance partners, the South African Communist Party (SACP).
It is expected that, for the first time since the dawn of democracy, the communist party will be contesting the upcoming local government elections without the ANC.
Bhengu added that the state of local government will also be discussed, with a focus on municipalities in the North West and other parts of the country, where service delivery has lapsed. The gathering will also give NEC members the opportunity to contribute to Ramaphosa’s statement to be delivered on Saturday.
“We are also going to be addressing the local government action and deployment plan here in the North West, as we know the problems that we have. We will focus on discussing that situation. We have made an undertaking that local government (should be) prioritised,” she added.
