Africa-Press – South-Africa. Allegations of bribery have sown division in the ANC Eastern Cape leadership race, with frontline contenders Oscar Mabuyane and Babalo Madikizela providing opposing views on using money to lure delegates, as lobbying intensifies ahead of the conference.
Mabuyane and Madikizela remain the firm favourites to contest the chairperson position at the ANC Eastern Cape provincial conference in East London.
The conference begins on Friday and ends on Sunday.
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Madikizela made bribery allegations while addressing his supporters in the early hours on Friday.
He told the few hundred people gathered that they should be wary of “power officials” who attempted to lure them into changing their votes by giving them money.
He alleged that the conference was so crucial in changing the province’s direction that bribery was likely.
He said:
“We must go shop with the money you will be given because you will be bribed. Keep that money and eat it on Monday. Take the money and go vote. When you close the conference on Sunday, you can go shopping. We have a long weekend. We must be part of making history,” Madikizela said to his supporters.
Mabuyane was on the opposing end of the bribery allegations. He insisted, without naming Madikizela, that those who made allegations about bribes should report it instead of stirring fear among voting delegates hours ahead of the conference.
“I have never been in the ANC for money, and I do not have money. What we know is that that is an act of misconduct. Whoever has spoken about it must come forward because that is an act of misconduct. If you begin to do that with the purpose of influencing the outcomes, that person must be attended to and dealt with. Whoever spoke about this matter they must report it formally.”
Mabuyane had teamed up with Madikizela in 2017 to win the leadership race in the province, but the duo had since fallen out.
He speculated that the intention of the bribery allegations was meant to stir up fear and create a narrative ahead of any possible loss.
“I do not think we must create a narrative that seeks to create a spin about this conference. In 2017, people said they were winning by margins, and when we were, there were no margins (as speculated) as the conference was about to start. And the narrative that was created was that there were ghosts here just to create a narrative, misleading the public,” Mabuyane said.
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Mabuyane said ANC branches had already decided who they would be backing, despite efforts to spin the narrative of influence.
“People know, wherever you are, people have a sense how branches have nominated. Branches of the ANC have nominated,” he said.
Political insiders believe Mabuyane and Madikizela enjoyed considerable support in some regions.
Mabuyane, while briefing the media on Friday at the convention centre, said the initial plan was to have an uncontested conference.
He said the contestation was unfortunate, but part of the ANC’s culture.
“We had ambitions, as this collective, that we would have a very clean conference, which would likely be uncontested. We thought we would not be where we are now, but we do not regret this situation because it is part of the ANC DNA,” Mabuyane.
Lobbying and posturing were expected to continue until the conference resumed on Saturday morning.
The factions supporting Mabuyane and Madikizela had been holding separate meetings to ensure numbers were aligned ahead of the conference.
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