Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - Aggrieved ANC members want detailed information of all branch nominations to be made public or for the matter to be placed on the agenda of this weekend’s national conference and decided by delegates before voting takes place.
The nine members have lodged an application in the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, to demand the publication of nomination figures that informed the published list of the top six and the 200 party members contesting for the 80 seats on the national executive committee (NEC) structure of the governing party.
They accused ANC electoral committee chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe of hiding behind the renewal chorus to suppress internal democratic processes and the will of the branches ahead of the watershed national elective conference, due to begin in Nasrec, Joburg, this weekend.
Respondents in the case include Motlanthe, President Cyril Ramaphosa, acting secretary-general Paul Mashatile, the outgoing NEC, and the conference preparatory committee, respectively.
In their court papers, the applicants want the high court to order Motlanthe to publish an excel spreadsheet of all branch nominations received for all candidates nominated.
“(They must publish) the branch nominations received per candidate … to stipulate the name and number of branch nominations per candidate, captured where the region or the branch is situated.
“In the event of the first respondent failing to publish the Excel spreadsheet in the manner so ordered, the other respondents ensure the matter relating to the failure of the first respondent to publish the Excel spreadsheet … be placed on the agenda of the national conference,” said the applicants in their court papers.
They argued in their papers that this will enable ANC delegates to debate and resolve the matter during the envisaged conference.
In case the ANC planned to oppose the application, they had until yesterday to do so and to file answering affidavits before 4pm tomorrow.
One of the plaintiffs, MK veteran Mogomotsi Mogodiri, said their issue with Motlanthe started when the electoral committee ignored their request for the raw data concerning branch nominations to be made available.
“The call by ANC members for raw data is an honest attempt at deepening transparency and accountability while entrenching ANC internal democracy,” said Mogodiri, a former political detainee, ex-MK combatant and a media specialist.
Mogodiri said the ANC’s renewal chorus was dependent on democratic processes and the will of the branches, which appeared to be suppressed by Motlanthe.
“Should the raw data point otherwise, the electoral committee will have to provide a plausible explanation for that discrepancy. Failure in explaining our exclusion must trigger consequence management.
“Avoiding to address our demand for raw data, Comrade Motlanthe disappointingly went on a tirade that amounted to threats, intimidation, labelling and suppression of dissenting views,” Mogodiri said.
According to the group, the ANC’s renewal dream hinges on how they treat this matter. “If the ANC is to achieve its much-elusive goal of unity, rebuilding and renewal, it is imperative that rules are followed and members are allowed to exercise their democratic rights without undue hindrance.
“The national conference is the conference of the branches … they are therefore entitled to be provided with the information demanded,” said the group.
ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe did not respond to media questions on the court challenge.
But electoral committee secretary Chief Livhuwani Matsila confirmed they would challenge the matter in court.
“It is not that we are refusing to furnish these comrades with information, we have done so before.
“The committee is happy that they are not interdicting the conference itself. We will hear exactly what they want,” he said.
Pretoria News