The African National Congress (ANC)’s national working committee (NWC) has shortlisted names to lead its renewal commission, with insiders claiming that former President Thabo Mbeki was left out of the initial proposal from the party’s top officials.

The commission, which will be composed of 10 members of the party’s elders, will be charged with drafting the ANC’s programme of unity and renewal for the next decade.

Two ANC insiders who attended the party’s national working committee (NWC) meeting on Monday told the Mail & Guardian that they were shocked to learn that Mbeki, who has been at the centre of renewal in the organization, had been left out. 

NWC members demanded an explanation for his omission.

The issue formed part of Monday’s deliberations, which also discussed the disbandment of provinces like Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and the North West.

Most of the ANC’s structures have expired mandates, with pressure to hold elective conferences mounting as the party edges closer to its December national elective conference this year.

The governing party discussed a renewal commission at its last national executive committee meeting – it’s expected to engage branches and analyse structures on several issues, including the cadre deployment policy and political education in the organisation.

It seems that the ANC is ready to advance on its idea of a renewal commission, with the matter forming part of Monday’s agenda at the NWC.

But Eyewitness News understands that top officials left some members shocked, having initially excluded former president Thabo Mbeki from their proposed names to lead its efforts.

Mbeki has already taken to meeting with structures on the issue – just last month he was in the Free State, the home province of suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, to discuss party renewal.

Some have labelled this period as an attempt by the former leader to rewrite his legacy within the movement, saying that Mbeki has an opportunity to be seen as someone who tried to rescue the party instead of those whose internal squabbles fast-tracked the death of the former liberation movement.

The NWC also had plans to disband the party in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

It also discussed the fate of interim committees in the Western Cape and the North West, while some members have called for an engagement with the women’s league to assess if it too should be disbanded.