Qaanitah Hunter | ANC horse trading begins and it's as crass as you'd think it would be

After the ANC's electoral committee announced the final list of nominees following its branch nomination process ahead of the party's elective conference, cloak-and-dagger-styled negotiations and bartering for positions got into full swing, writes Qaanitah Hunter.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines horse trading as "negotiation accompanied by shrewd bargaining and reciprocal concessions" in politics.

And that is exactly what began in earnest in the ANC's top echelons and among its power brokers after the party's electoral committee announced the final list of nominees following its branch nomination process ahead of its elective conference.