Durban – The African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal amended its branch nomination numbers on Tuesday after it was found that the verification process was not accurate.
African National Congress KwaZulu-Natal deputy chairperson, Willies Mchunu, told over 700 delegates that “something went wrong” with the party’s provincial nomination figures that were released on Monday night.
Mchunu was speaking at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban on Tuesday on the second and final day of the party’s provincial general council (PGC).
He asked a member from the electoral commission to explain the numbers to the delegates in attendance during a session that was open to the media.
On Monday night, the province announced that Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had received the most branch nominations for president in the national race taking place in Nasrec from 16 to 20 December.
The former African Union Commission chairperson received 433 branch nominations as opposed to 193 for deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night, but after the amended figures were put forward on Tuesday, Dlamini-Zuma was on 454 and Ramaphosa on 191.
The nominations for David Mabuzo for deputy president shifted from 434 on Monday night to 439 on Tuesday while Naledi Pandor’s nominations for the same position moved from 53 to 51. Nathi Mthethwa moved from 358 to 371 for the nomination of national chairperson. Ace Magashule shifted from 410 to 427 nominations for secretary general, while Senzo Mchunu’s numbers remained the same.
Explaining the discrepancies, Bontle Mpakanyane from the EleXions Agency, which is overseeing the process, told the delegates that several regional secretaries had approached them after the nomination results were released on Monday night with concerns.
A small group of Cyril Ramaphosa supporters sang for their candidate as the rest of the hall erupted in chants of support for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on the last day of the KZN PGC on Tuesday. Dlamini-Zuma was nominated by a large margin on Monday night. Video: ANA
Some of the discrepancies appeared to have come in from late nominations being received and booklets being placed in incorrect piles. Some branches were also involved in re-runs and those numbers had to be altered.
Mpakanyane said that the biggest discrepancies came from the Moses Mabhida (Pietermaritzburg area) region, where nomination forms had been “torn out” of booklets and copies were later found in boxes where registers had been submitted.
Ramaphosa still leads the race nationally by a slim margin that has not yet taken into account disputes, league votes or provincial leadership and national leadership votes.
Mchunu said it was important to check the numbers “so there was no doubt about the authenticity of the figures,” as this would impede the integrity of the process.
The PGC is expected to deal with the province’s readiness for the national conference, affirm new national leadership positions, hone ANC policy decisions and highlight perspectives on land expropriation without compensation, radical economic transformation, party unity and the 2019 national elections.