Johannesburg - The announcement of candidates to stand for election at Mangaung will not be made until all the nominees have officially responded, the ANC electoral commission said on Thursday.
“We are only go[ing] to announce those who have accepted the nominations when we have finished the process of screening the candidates and know whether they accept or decline,” said ANC electoral commission member Tshilidzi Ratshitanga.
He said that the process of finalising the nominations, including getting responses from nominated candidates about whether they would accept their nominations, had not yet been completed.
“We will give candidates as much time as possible to consider their options. This is a dynamic process of electing the ANC, we can't rush it. If we rush it for the convenience of the media we will be short-circuiting it,” he said.
“We really cannot rush this process, because we will be doing a disservice to an important process of the ANC.”
He said once a list was compiled, it would first be distributed to ANC branches before being announced to the media.
“We cannot announce that at a press conference, we have to announce it to the branches first,” Ratshitanga said.
However, the process could continue into the conference as delegates could nominate candidates from the floor. If a floor nomination receives 25 percent of the support of the delegates, and is accepted by the nominee, it will be added to the ballot.
Sapa