Majority of ANC FS Branches prefer Manyoni to lead the Province as the chairperson

Politics/ 01 October 2022, 16:17pm / Mandla Nkosi

Former ANC Free State deputy chairperson Thabo Manyoni: image supplied  

By Mandla Nkosi: ANC members in Free State province are currently convening Branch General Meetings [BGMs], as part of the organisation’s preparations towards its much-anticipated provincial elective conference that is set to take place in October where new leadership will be elected.

It is widely expected that the current party’s interim leadership will seek to be elected officially, however branches are hard at work trying to find alternative candidates that will lead them. Amongst those whom branches prefer as the best candidate to lead the province is former provincial deputy chairman Thabo Manyoni.

Majority of branches have already pronounced the former Mangaung Executive Mayor, as their preferred candidate. Many branches who have thrown their support behind Manyoni, are saying he has the capacity to unite greatly divided province.

However the party’s commitment to renew itself is failing to take shape in the province as those accused of corruption, other crimes or mismanagement of public coffers are the front-runners to lead the ANC across.

One of the branch leaders in Thabo Mofutsanyane which is the leading region in-terms of branches in Free State believes that Manyoni is their only hope to unite and revive the ANC.

“There are various candidates who are pronounced by branches, however many of those are not the kind of individuals who should be entrusted with leadership given their chequered past in some cases, their ongoing court cases and allegations of corruption, hence we realised that as the region we should support Comrade Thabi Manyoni, because to be honest at the moment he is one of the credible and trusted leader who can bring the back the the people’s confidence towards the ANC in our province”

Meanwhile, Free State IPC spokesperson Oupa Khoabane confirmed that the provincial conference that was supposed to take place this past weekend it has been postponed, and further said that the new date for provincial conference will be announced.

Earlier Khoabane told Free State Insider that the tentative agreement was that the membership renewal process would be wrapped up at the end of July and that the regional and provincial conferences would be concluded by the end of September, however that didn’t happen as the party is currently convening BGMs throughout the province.