ANC 'satisfied' with nominations progress
2012-10-19 22:14
Johannesburg - The ANC is satisfied with the progress made since nominations for the party's leadership were opened at the beginning of the month, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Friday.
"We have now activated the conference electoral commission as well as the agency. Given this progress we are certain to meet all our targeted timelines, as per our plans," he said in a statement.
"The ANC branches have started with their BGMs [branch general meetings] that will select delegates and as well as nominate candidates for the ANC leadership."
Once this was completed each province would hold a provincial nomination conference to "consolidate all nominations from the branches".
"Given the centrality of the branches of the ANC in the nomination process, we urge our structures to allow branches the space to engage in meaningful discussion... with a view to making informed decisions in their nominations," Mantashe said.
"Our structures, particularly our leagues, ANC provinces, individual NEC [national executive committee] members and alliance partners, should resist the temptation to pre-empt the current discussions by announcing their preference."
Mantashe said the African National Congress and its alliance partners had never interfered in each other's elective processes.
"Adherence to that conduct will benefit the critical processes of leadership assessment and informed nominations," he said.
"We believe that this will assist in ensuring that branches are the primary organs of the ANC, and they should determine the outcome and should not be influenced unduly."
Alliance partner the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) has backed President Jacob Zuma serving a second term as ANC leader.
"We will endorse those we have identified as the core of the Polokwane collective - the current president [Jacob Zuma], deputy president [Kgalema Motlanthe] and the secretary general [Mantashe]," Cosatu's central executive committee said in a statement.
Some ANC structures had nominated Motlanthe for the top job. He had however not indicated whether he would accept the nomination.
- SAPA
