Johannesburg - Former ANC Youth League leader Collen Maine has called for the branches to take up their positions as kingmakers and vote for the right leaders to move the ANC forward.
Maine, who represents the ANC in the North West Province, refused to be pinned down on his choice of leadership of the ANC but called on the branches to save the ANC from total collapse.
Maine was speaking on the sidelines of the 55th ANC National Conference in Nasrec on Saturday, just as the conference entered day two of its five-day programme. Maine said the conference is the conference of the branches, adding that provinces that have made their candidates known are not the ones who should be driving the conference but branches.
He said provinces have been pronouncing their preferred candidate, disregarding the mandate of the branches, which are the only structures that should have a say on who leads the ANC.
Former ANC Youth League leader Collen Maine has called for the branches to make their voices heard when it comes to electing new ANC leaders. He said the conference is the conference of the branches and not of the provinces #ANC55 pic.twitter.com/tAgPYcijNj
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“Provinces have been pronouncing candidates for themselves when in fact the conference is the conference of branches. Branches are not bound by the pronouncements made by provinces and are forced to follow what the provinces are saying. It is their conference, and they must appreciate the challenges that we are going through as an organisation, and they must say, for us to save the organisation, what kind of candidates or leadership they want despite the pronouncements made by the provinces.
“What is more important is for us to save the organisation. The branches must do everything in their power to save the ANC from collapsing,” he said.
Maine added that there should be a 50/50 representation of women both in the top six and in the ANC NEC to ensure that the ANC fulfils its mandate of being an organisation that takes its gender equity seriously.
“The nomination process is the process of the branches, and the top six are not the structure of the ANC. The structure that is going to be elected here is called the NEC, and that NEC, in terms of the constitution of the ANC, says we must have a 50/50 to achieve women representation. So, the top six are not the structure. We are going to elect men and women to be represented proportionally and equally,” he said.
The Star