The African National Congress (ANC) in the Eastern Cape held a Special Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) Meeting on Thursday , 16th January 2025 at Canon James Calata House eQonce.
The PEC rigorously engaged the reports before it, addressing the domestic and global balance of forces, alongside diagnostic insights on the state of our organisation and the PEC Officials Report.
ON THE CLASS OF 2024 RESULTS :
The African National Congress ( ANC) in the Eastern Cape congratulates the Matric Class of 2024 on their commendable achievements in the National Senior Certificate examinations.
The ANC salute the Department of Basic Education, teachers , school governing bodies, parents , Organized Labour and other partners in basic education for working hard to achieve the overall matric pass rate of 84.9% which represents an improvement of 3.6% attained by the Class of 2023.
The ANC calls on the tertiary education institutions to ensure that these matriculants get the necessary help to enroll but also urges learners not only to focus on furthering higher education through universities but also technical and vocational education and training through Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges.
DISSOLUTION OF REGIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES :
The Special PEC noted that the term of office for the Alfred Nzo, OR Tambo, Joe Gqabi and Nelson Mandela Regional Executive Committees lapsed in December 2024 .
In terms of the ANC Constitution, Regional Executive Committee (REC) hold office for three years and the four (4) regions have expired mandates and the ANC constitution requires that regional conferences be held every three years.
Therefore the Special PEC resolved to
dissolve the Regional Executive Committees of the four regions and appoint Regional Task Teams (RTT).
The Regional Task Teams will fulfill the functions of the REC’s and will be responsible, amongst others, for ensuring that Regional Conferencs are held to elect Regional Executive Committees .The names of the comrades appointed to constitute the Regional Task Teams have been forwarded to the Regions.
The leadership of the province remains firmly committed in convening constitutional and democratic Regional Conferences which will be inclusive of all ANC eligible structures, free of prejudice.
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND FEMICIDE:
PEC acknowledge the fact that our society continues to be ravaged by heinous acts of violence against women, children, and people with disabilities. It calls to action against the ongoing and pervasive violence that seeks to destroy the fabric of our society, particularly the violence faced by women and children, who remain the most vulnerable members of our communities.
We call on all sectors of society to unite in the fight against GBV and femicide. This must be a collective struggle—government, civil society, the private sector, and individual South Africans must take action.
We urge communities to report violence when they see it, to stand in solidarity with survivors, and to engage in honest conversations about gender equality and respect. The time for silence and complacency has passed; we must act now.
DEATHS IN INITIATION SCHOOLS:
The African National Congress views the death of initiates as a tragic result of a process whose tragic end could be avoided.
Initiation schools are supposed to prepare young men for manhood and not to serve as death camps. We are dismayed by the blatant abuse of our cultural and traditional practices by individuals who have turned them into lucrative business enterprises with no regard for human life .
We are encouraging our structures working with traditional leaders to work with the Justice Cluster to ensure that people who kidnap young men, those who open these schools for commercialisation and those who open illegal initiation schools are dealt with accordingly.
The PEC calls on the Department of Health , COGTA , law enforcement agencies and traditional leaders to increase both preventative and consequence management efforts to end this unnecessary and preventable carnage of young men permanently and also convene an urgent male customary initiation Indaba to share best practice on conducting this ancient rite of passage safely. For many communities, this rite is an important part of their cultural identity.
The ANC once again conveys hearfelt condolences to bereaved families who should be still trying to come to terms with the tragic end of the lives of the deceased at such tender age. We call on our structures and communities to give support to these families.
TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS OF COMMUNITY WORKS PROGRAM WORKERS :
Whilst we welcome the decision by Minister of COGTA to extend the contracts of CWP participants aged fifty-five (55) years and older until the end of March 2025 and exploring viable and sustainable solutions , we demand an urgent intervention by National Treasury to fund COGTA in order to reconsider terminating the temporary employment contracts of people aged 55 and older under the Community Works Program which is a government initiative that provides temporary employment for people of working age while they search for permanent jobs.
The country is in the midst of crisis levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality and we can’t afford jobs bloodbath of 60000 workers, 40000 of those beneficiaries are in the Eastern Cape and more misery to the extended families of the CWP workers who stay in our townships and villages.
The decision goes against the need to strengthen the capacity of the state through the filling of vacancies in the public service to address the needs of our people. Equally, it is against the quest of building a capable and developmental state that intervenes to societal needs.
We can’t have a state through National Treasury that continues to prioritize implementing austerity measures including reducing public service wage bill, cuts in social spending, outsourcing, mass retrenchments, and freezing funded vacant posts amongst others.
PROVINCIAL JANUARY 8TH RALLY:
The PEC noted that the January 8th Provincial Rally will be held at Nqanqarhu ( formerly known as Maclear ) eLundini in the Joe Gqabi Region on the 25th January 2025 and that preparations are well underway.
Conclusion :
The PEC will continue to foster unity and renewal of the organisation as resolved by ANC’s 55th National Conference. It will also marshal all the regional structures towards maintaining a respectful appreciation of organisational discipline, democratic centralism and adhering to the due processes as per our Constitutional provisions.
ENDS….
ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS -EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE
Enquiries :
Cde Gift Ngqondi
Provincial Head of Communications
ANC Eastern Cape
Mobile No- 0849519924/0848439706
