Song, cheer as Shilowa arrives
2008-11-01 09:30
Johannesburg - Former Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa arrived at the venue for the national convention in Sandton early on Saturday morning.
He was greeted on his arrival at 07:30 by a small group of people singing and cheering.
By 07:00 technicians and security had started to erect guard rails around the Sandton Convention Centre where the two-day national convention is taking place.
The convention - which is a culmination of a fallout between the African National Congress and its disgruntled members, led by Shilowa and former defence minister Terror Lekota - is expected to attract more than 4 000 delegates.
Hundreds more have been turned away due to a lack of space.
Political parties that will be sending representatives to the Convention include the Democratic Alliance and the United Democratic Movement.
While the Convention is expected to culminate in the formation of a political party, organisers said this would only happen at a later stage.
Shilowa said it will be improper to announce the formation of a new party at the Convention since the gathering was for all South Africans.
It is important to have a dialogue of South Africans across the political divide, to see if we have a shared perspective," he said.
Meanwhile, tensions between the ANC and the splinter group reached new heights following Friday's Pretoria High Court interdict application by the ruling party in a bid to bar the dissidents from using the name "SA National Convention".
The Court has postponed the matter to Thursday next week.
Meanwhile, organisers of the convention say it has been oversubscribed by 2 300 people - and more are still expected.
About 4 500 delegates were expected but so far the event has been oversubscribed by 2 300 people, a figure organisers said was likely to increase.
The additional people were made up of delegates who had arrived in Johannesburg from various provinces without having pre-registered.
Organisers said an overflow area was set up at the Johannesburg stadium for people who did not have accreditation to attend the convention.
A live video feed has been set up for members of the public to watch proceedings of the Convention.
Organisers said accommodation problems had been caused by the unregistered delegates and members of the public arriving and having no where to stay.
Proceedings at the accreditation station were also delayed as staff dealt with queries from those who had not registered.
- SAPA