ANC&#x2019s Eastern Cape conference will proceed despite disputes and SOS letter &#x2013 Mbalula

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party’s Eastern Cape elective conference will proceed despite disputes over branch manipulation and membership issues.

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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party’s Eastern Cape elective conference will proceed despite disputes over branch manipulation and membership issues.Mbalula criticised Lulama Ngcukayitobi for bypassing him and complaining to the party’s top seven.The Eastern Cape conference begins on Friday in East London,and the Limpopo and Mpumalanga conferences are also scheduled for this weekend.The ANC’s Eastern Cape conference will proceed this weekend,secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said,quashing any uncertainty over the event.

This,despite an SOS letter to the party’s national working committee (NWC) decrying the “troubling situation” in which Mbalula allegedly mishandled disputes stemming from the “manipulation” of branches,among other things.

Speaking at the Amathole Regional Conference over the weekend,Mbalula hit back at Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi,saying: “I’ve seen you circulating letters directed to the top seven. I oversee the ANC,and I report to the top seven. Don’t send a letter to everyone,it must first come to me,then I will call you. Don’t write me letters of a faction. I want to receive letters about the organisation.”

He added that if anyone had a problem,they should talk to him first.

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“Don’t just shoot across a letter before telling me about your problems. The conference must go ahead,and it will. We need to move past this conference and focus on the local government elections,” Mbalula added.

READ | Ngcukayitobi complains to Ramaphosa about Mbalula’s ‘manipulation’ before ANC EC conferenceNgcukayitobi penned the letter last week ahead of the provincial elective conference in East London. His main complaint was about membership system failures,manipulation and the inconsistent application of guidelines.

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— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) March 22,2026

He is also at the helm of a faction challenging incumbent chairperson Oscar Mabuyane and his slate.

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In the letter,Ngcukayitobi expressed concern that the issues could overshadow the upcoming elective conference.

He also said his office has been inundated with letters of complaint from branches and members,which “cannot be condoned in our bid to deliver a credible conference and avoid litigation”.

The Eastern Cape conference takes place from Friday at the East London ICC.

Limpopo and Mpumalanga will also hold ANC elective conferences this weekend.