Johannesburg – Delegates at the ANC Youth League elective conference in Johannesburg adopted credentials on Friday evening.
“The national congress has just adopted credentials by consensus. We have complied with the provisions of the league’s constitution,” ANCYL national task team member Malusi Gigaba told journalists.
He added that a few people objected to the credentials being adopted.
“It is natural that you will have some people objecting to credentials, but the majority of the congress were for the adoption of the credentials. Disputes raised fell away as they were attended to by the national dispute resolution committee before,” he said.
The number of voting delegates from all provinces stood at 2803, said Gigaba. KwaZulu-Natal had 676, Gauteng 364, Mpumalanga 350, Eastern Cape 325, Limpopo 255, North West 255, Free State 177, Western Cape 100, and Northern Cape 93.
The delegates will receive organisational and financial reports behind closed doors on Friday night, and will thereafter finalise nominations for the top five positions.
Gigaba said that because the conference was running behind schedule, voting could take place on Saturday.
“We cannot pre-empt how the conference will go tonight, as we take into consideration that delegates are exhausted. However, we are ready to go into the late night and early morning if we have to.”
The league’s previous leadership, led by Julius Malema, was dissolved in 2013. Malema, who formed his own political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, was expelled from the ANCYL in 2012 for bringing the party into disrepute.
The ANCYL national task team was appointed by the ANC to rebuild the fractured youth organisation’s structures. Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa was the co-ordinator of the NTT, while Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula was the convenor.
The run-up to the league’s presidential race saw North West human settlements MEC and ANCYL provincial chairman Collen Maine nominated by most provinces. Former ANCYL treasurer Pule Mabe, Lesego Makhubela from the Tshwane region, and former youth league deputy president Ronald Lamola are also presidential hopefuls.
African News Agency