ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane says the province will escalate its conference impasse to ANC national leadership at Luthuli House, with plans to hold the delayed conference by the end of April.
ANC Eastern Cape/Facebook
- The ANC in the Eastern Cape will take its conference impasse to Luthuli House.
- Chairperson Oscar Mabuyane confirmed this during an address at the kuGompo City (formerly East London) International Convention Centre.
- The conference, meant to start on Thursday, was intended to elect new leaders, but was postponed indefinitely.
The ANC Eastern Cape leadership has confirmed that it will take its impasse over the conference to the party’s national leadership no later than Monday.
ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane told delegates on Saturday that they would discuss the matter with party bosses at Luthuli House next week.
He also assured delegates that the conference would take place by the end of April.
Mabuyane’s comments signal that the Eastern Cape is likely to seek an extension to convene the conference beyond the set deadline of 31 March.
It is also understood that the aim of the meeting with Luthuli House bosses is to present all the facts.
Mabuyane said: “We are going to the national leadership, we have spoken to the national leadership, and they are also keen because they want us to find a collective solution on this matter.”
He added:
This conference is going to sit… it must sit before the end of April.
The conference was put in abeyance on Friday – and, on Saturday morning, it was postponed amid legal disputes.
This followed a court interdict granted to ANC members who argued that the branches had been manipulated.
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Because Mabuyane and the rest of the provincial leadership could not officially convene branch delegates, the chairperson addressed “a cadres forum” to brief delegates after an earlier meeting of the provincial executive committee (PEC).
Mabuyane also drew a line in the sand with his former ally, provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi, and called him out for being absent from the gathering.
Ngcukayitobi left the kuGompo City (formerly East London) ICC around 14:00 after a special PEC meeting.
Mmamoloko Kubayi, who is the convenor of national executive committee (NEC) deployees to the Eastern Cape conference, said the matter would now be handled by the NEC.
[WATCH]
The provincial executive committee leadership is about to address these delegates who’ve been in high spirits in this plenary.
Noticably missing is the provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi. News24 witnessed his car driving out of the ICC about an hour ago.@News24 pic.twitter.com/RL3VxffQJe— Bongekile Macupe (@BongeMacupe) March 28, 2026
“We assure you, no matter what happens, the conference will have to happen; it is a constitutional requirement.
“From here onwards, this matter will be dealt with by the national executive committee. We, as the deployees, will compile a report,” Kubayi said.
She said the report was crucial because national officials would ask questions around what happened with the Eastern Cape conference.
The PEC’s term of office comes to an end in May.