A flag of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) flies outside a polling station in Langa, near Cape Town, on 1 November 2021, during South Africa's local elections. Photo: RODGER BOSCH / AFP
The African National Congress (ANC) Gauteng’s 14th provincial conference resumed on Saturday, 9 July, to conclude its business.
Proceedings are currently underway at the Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg, with the Gauteng conference set to elect additional members of the provincial executive committee (PEC), among other things, over the next two days.
The provincial conference, previously held from 23 to 26 June 2022, was marred by several delays over the adoption of credentials and a failed urgent court bid to halt it from going ahead.
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At the time, Panyaza Lesufi was elected as the chairperson, replacing Premier David Makhura after serving as his deputy for five years.
Lesufi was elected by 575 votes to 543 after he beat Gauteng Cogta MEC Lebogang Maile for the top job.
Other leaders elected at the conference included Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, TK Ncinza, Tasneem Motara, and Morakane Mosupye as deputy provincial chair, secretary, deputy secretary, and treasurer, respectively.
Speaking to the media before the conference resumed, Lesufi said they were well prepared.
“We are ready to continue with the second part of the conference. We have made thorough preparations just to avoid what happened [in the last time],” he said.
Lesufi previously said the conference would conclude all its business, which includes “going to commissions, receiving commission reports and finalising our policy position”.
“You will see from the programme today, we are indeed in a discussion mode to reposition the African National Congress and understand where we are. [We want to] get a deeper understanding of the challenges that are facing the ANC.
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“We will get the documents on strategy and tactics to refresh our memories so when it goes the commission we understand where the ANC is,” he explained.
“The documents are important as we are left with 19 months before we are confronted with the 2024 elections,” Lesufi added.
The new provincial chairperson said the conference on Sunday would go through the ANC’s freedom charter.
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