Cape Town - The ANC electoral committee, on Tuesday, gave credit to party members and leaders for observing the rules on the nomination of candidates for election to the top six positions.
Briefing the media on the outcomes of the nominations, the committee’s secretary, Livhuwani Matsila, said credit went to ANC members and leaders who observed the rules during the nomination process.
“There is no list of people with the same number of nominations.
“Everybody is independently nominated by the branches, and the consolidation (of nominations) points a clear picture,” Matsila said.
The list of 16 nominees showed some positions were to be contested by two or three people. There was an uneven number of votes obtained by individual candidates.
Even though there were reports that some hopefuls were nominated, they did not make the cut in the list announced.
"Even if you are nominated by a province, we have a situation where we consolidate the numbers, and the top three make it to the ballot.
“Some of the comrades are there nominated by the leagues,” Matsila said.
He also said they have seen a growing trend among the candidates who were declaring the donors to their campaigns.
“Most have indicated once they accept the nomination that they will declare,” he said.
“It is also an ongoing exercise that has credibility and respect among those nominated. We believe we are on the right track,” Matsila said.
Committee chairperson, Kgalema Motlanthe, said the 2017 Nasrec resolution gave birth to the electoral committee to eliminate slate politics, manipulations and other things.
“The rules are aimed at giving effect to the aim the resolution sought to address,” he said.
Motlanthe also said the delegates could see in terms of the nominations whether the criteria for nomination were met in terms of gender representation and demographics, among other things.
“All can see for themselves all they have is a male team, and they can nominate from the floor to try to achieve that balance in the leadership,” he said in reference to the 14 men nominated out of 16 nominees for the top six positions.
Motlanthe said the rules with regard to “don’t do” to the conference remained in place.
“You can’t sponsor, as a nominee, any group of delegates, you can't quarantine them, and you can't offer them anything. The rules are clear that all delegates should use accommodation provided for by the organisation.”
The former president noted that, in the past, some of the delegates would have been kept away from everyone else - from the manner they were transported from provinces and where they were accommodated throughout the conference.
“The national conference is a stricture in terms of the ANC constitution once it is convened.
“The idea and the spirit of it is that you are there to influence and be influenced by others. You have to interact with other delegates, of course, armed by your own mandate from your own branch,” Motlanthe said.
Matsila insisted that nobody was allowed to pay any expenses for delegates whatsoever going to the conference.
“You can't pay for accommodation, can't pay registration fees, can't buy food, can't buy them alcohol and can't do anything. We want to avoid a situation where people use money to manipulate the outcome of the conference through favouritism and dispense patronage,” he added.
Cape Times