Johannesburg - ANC delegates that are still stuck at the registration centre have called for the elective conference to be delayed until they finish in order to allow them to participate.
A delegate from the Eastern Cape who spoke on condition of anonymity told Independent Media that it was unfair for the party leadership to continue with the conference since it was not their fault but that of the officials who were tasked with the registration process.
The delegate said that more than 200 delegates were still stuck inside the registration hall at Johannesburg’s University of South Africa campus.
The delegate also said they were disturbed to learn that the conference was opened while registration glitches had not been sorted out, saying that if the conference continued he did not understand how credentials would be dealt with if there were still delegates queuing for registration.
The registration problem started on Thursday and by Friday morning there were still queues at the centres which caused the six-hour delay before the conference started. It was scheduled to start at 8.30am with a political report to be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa at 9.15am but the conference only started in the afternoon.
National chairperson Gwede Mantashe said the delay was caused by registration glitches, arguing that if there were no delegates there was no way that the conference would start.
The problem was squarely put on the office of acting secretary-general Paul Mashatile who was accused of failing to conduct pre-registration in the provinces as the norm.
Speaking on the SABC earlier, national executive committee member Gwen Ramakgopa refused to say who was to be blamed for registration delays but said the conference had to continue after meeting the threshold.
Daily News