During its elective conference, the ANC in Vhembe region resolved to support Limpopo provincial secretary Ruben Madadzhe for a second term in the upcoming provincial conference.
Vhembe, which is the party’s biggest region in the province, elected new leadership over the weekend, to lead the regional ANC for the next three years and spearhead the campaigns for the 2026 local government elections.
Even though nominations for the 11th ANC provincial elective conference are not open, the region has set up the tone and resolved to back its former ANC youth league regional secretary Madadzhe to return as the provincial secretary in the upcoming conference.
Vhembe’s abrupt pronouncement to support Madadzhe’s candidature suggests that the lobbying for the provincial leadership is taking place behind closed doors and these regional conferences are used to build leadership blocs and garner support.
In a build up for the conference, the party’s provincial secretary was charged with responsibilities to run the conference together with ANC national organiser Mdu Manana, by his national counterpart Fikile Mbalula.
This move suggests that Madadzhe has support from Mbalula, the governing party’s secretary general.
While the incumbent ANC provincial chairperson Stan Mathabatha is expected not to contest, the provincial hot seat is up for grabs with Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba and City of Polokwane mayor John Mpe both eyeing for it.
The ANC newly elected Vhembe regional Secretary Matodzi Ralushai said the delegates in their majority recognise Madadzhe’s good work in the provincial office and therefore it will be in the best interest of the party to retain him as the secretary.
Ralushai condemned members who took the party to court to resolve internal issues.
“We want to condemn this tendency by our cadres of subjecting organisational processes before court of laws, without exhausting the party’s procedures of dealing with disputes and issues.
“As the REC we are charged with the responsibilities of uniting all comrades whether emerged or not, into one solid party, “ Ralushai said.
He was referring to Simon Mavikane, a regional chairperson hopeful and a senior official in the Collins Chabane Local Municipality, who took the ANC to court in a bid to stop the conference. He lost the case and later dropped out of the race hours before the conference started.
The regional secretary told African Times that they will be having a special regional general council (RGC) to finalise outstanding conference agenda items such as policies, which were not discussed because the conference started late due to urgent court interdict which was launched on Sunday morning, before the conference.
“The key message that we want to send to our deployed is that Makhado Musina special economic zone (SEZ) should be made a reality so that our people can be employed and improve our local economy.
“We will not tolerate any form of corruption from any ANC deployed official, “ he said.
Vhembe region is boarded by Zimbabwe and Botswana, and is popularly known as a food basket of the country with over 1.65 million population.
The region is blessed with fertile soil that produces citrus fruits and vegetables that are exported to countries abroad. It also contains big orchards that help feed the nation. Despite this, the majority of farmers in the region depend on subsistence farming while many others live from hand to mouth.
A 55-year-old Derrick Ramabudana, a resident of Elim Watervaal under Makhado Municipality, wishes that the governing party can prioritise the issue of water and fix the pothole-ridden road, that’s from N1 to Elim.
