ANC to crackdown conference troublemakers

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State has reiterated that appropriate measures are in place to ensure a safe and incident-free Mangaung elective conference in December.

The provincial secretary, William Bulwane, said the province has been ready since it was announced that Mangaung will be hosting the conference.
“All venues have been inspected, all facilities signed off and we can confidently say that we are as ready as we can be.”

In an interview with The Weekly, Bulwane said the party was ready to deal with any untoward situation that might threaten the safety and security of delegates at the five day conference, which is scheduled to kick off on December 16.

“There will never any disturbances of any kind. We’ve put our security systems in place and we are ready.”

He said, like with any other ANC gathering of this magnitude, there will be ample security deployment, including the security provided by (ANC Headquarters) Luthuli House, as well as official security for ministers, which they are normally provided with because of their status.

When asked whether sympathisers of expelled ANCYL president Julius Malema will pose any threat to the conference as they have previously threatened, Bulwane responded with an emphatic ‘No’.

“Security is going to be tight and we will be highly vigilant. No one will disrupt the conference in any way. We have a committee tasked with ensuring everything is in order and it’s all systems go.”

He warned that anyone with plans to disrupt the conference will not succeed, as plans are already in place to deal with such attempts.

The renegade Regime Change faction and its cohorts are being touted as potential troublemakers at the conference, but Bulwane insists that they will not be an issue or a threat to the conference.

“We have turned every stone, including the Regime Change issue, as they have unsuccessfully attempted to destabilise the province. So, they are not even an issue,” said Bulwane.

The ANC’s secretary general, Gwede Mantashe recently told The Weekly that the conference will run be ‘like a walk in the park’ and even likened its serenity to a Sunday picnic.