THE AFRICAN National Congress elective congress is only hours from sitting.
It begins from December 16 to 20 at the Nasrec Center, Jozi.
Over 4500 voting delegates are expected to elect the new party leaders.
These are delegates drawn from 3,043 of the ANC across the country.
Referred to as the conference of branches, they make up 90% of those voting, with the leagues, the different provincial executive committees (PECs) and the national executive committee (NEC) also being allocated voting rights.
Their task is to vote for the next president of the ANC, along with the top officials and 80 additional members who’ll make up the NEC, which functions as the highest decision-making body in between conferences.
The top nominations includes for President: Cyril Ramaphosa and Zweli Mkhize.
For deputy president: Paul Mashatile, Ronald Lamola and Oscar Mabuyane.
National chairperson: Stanley Mathabatha, Gwede Mantashe and David Masondo.
Treasurer: Pule Mabe, Bejani Chauke and Mzwandile Masina.
Secretary General: Mdumiseni Ntuli, Phumulo Masualle and Fikile Mbalula.
Deputy SG: Nomvula Mokonyane and Febe Potgieter- Gqubule.
National coordinator of the party’s electoral committee, Chief Matsila says its all about the numbers.
Matsila said that each branch gets one voting delegate per 100 members and an additional voting delegate for every 150 members.
So if a branch has 100 members, it gets one voting delegate. If it has 250 members then it gets two voting delegates, and so on.
Matsila said that a branch with less than 100 members does not get a voting delegate, however, the ANC reviews this on a case by case basis.
“In areas like the Western Cape, where there are farms, there are special branches that are approved by the secretary-general’s office so that they don’t achieve the 100 – they are allowed to nominate and in the Western Cape there are not more than 10 such branches,” Matsila said.
Elections for positions are done via secret ballot, with the winner determined through a simple majority, meaning that whoever has the most votes wins the election.
So, the whole country and the world will be monitoring the situation as it unfolds with keen interest.
