Johannesburg - The ANC in Gauteng does not operate outside the guidelines set down by the mother body, provincial leaders said on Tuesday.
“We are a province of the ANC which is led by the national ANC,” secretary Boyce Maneli told reporters in Johannesburg.
“We do not operate outside of the structures of the ANC.”
He was reacting to a question that the province had set itself apart, operating “autonomously” from the national structure. Maneli refuted this.
“During the elections, we ran our campaign with leaders from national. If we were working outside the norms of the ANC, there wouldn't be a need for leaders to come,” he said, referring to the general elections in May.
At the party's Mangaung elective conference in December 2012, at which President Jacob Zuma was re-elected party leader for a second term, the province supported Kgalema Motlanthe to become party president.
Maneli was speaking ahead of the party's Gauteng elective conference, to take place in Pretoria over the weekend. More than 400 provincial branches were expected to attend.
“The provincial conference will be attended by 406 branches in good standing which represent 89 percent of branches in Gauteng. All our five ANC regions, including the leagues, held successful councils in line with the conference guidelines.”
Structures and branches in the province had submitted their nominations. Current Gauteng ANC chairman Paul Mashatile looked set to retain his position, with premier David Makhura as his deputy.
Other nominees for the top five positions are health MEC Hope Papo for provincial secretary, former deputy health minister Gwen Ramokgopa as his deputy, and Gauteng legislature speaker Ntombi Mekgwe for treasurer.
Sapa