#ANC54: Ace retains his position

Ace Magashule was elected secretary-general of the ANC.

Ace Magashule was elected secretary-general of the ANC.

Published Dec 20, 2017

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Johannesburg - Newly-elected secretary general of the ANC, Ace Magashule, is set to stay on in the position. 

His election was dogged with controversy after those supporting former KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu raised objections claiming that there were 68 votes that were not counted. 

Several delegates told IOL on Wednesday that the matter had been resolved by the steering committee which sat for hours to verify the credentials of the delegates who cast the votes.

The conference was to be appraised of the outcome of the steering committee meeting at a plenary session on Wednesday afternoon.

However those supporting Magashule were said to already be celebrating. "NDZ people are singing and celebrating that Ace is staying in the position. They are singing about him," said a delegate who did not want to be named.

The disputed votes were cast by delegates whose names did not appear on the voters roll. They were allowed to vote as they had been accredited as voting delegates and their votes were quarantined pending the verification of their credentials.

Read:  #ANC54: 'Mchunu has not instructed anyone to file papers'

This was to ensure that the votes would not contaminate the entire voting process, should it later be established these delegates had not been supposed to vote.

Some of the delegates later challenged the exclusion of the votes saying they could change the results especially in the race for the SG post where the margin was only 24 votes.

The decision on the matter was expected to be communicated to delegates after lunch on Wednesday.

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There were also reports that some of the aggrieved delegates were planning on approaching the courts. Sthembiso Mshengu, an ally of Mchunu, said the former KZN chairperson id he knew of no  legal challenge. 

“He is very calm and is awaiting the conference to pronounce itself on this matter. It has to be remembered that this is a conference matter. It is unfortunate that this matter is now being reduced to one person,” said Mshengu. 

However, another Mchunu associate said some of his supporters were still not happy with the matter. "This might have to be resolved by the court court," said the delegate. 

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