Tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu insists she has enough votes to be considered as an ANC presidential candidate. (Photo by Gallo Images/Beeld/Deaan Vivier)
ANC presidential hopeful and Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is insistent that she received enough votes to qualify as an ANC presidential candidate.
This is despite the ANC electoral committee saying she did not get enough votes.
Early last week Sisulu, who, according to the committee, did not get enough endorsements from ANC branches to stand as a candidate, lodged a dispute with the committee, saying the ANC branch nomination results she was in possession of did not tally with those announced by the committee on Tuesday.
In his response to Sisulu’s letter, the committee’s chairperson, former president Kgalema Motlanthe, reiterated that the Tourism minister did not receive enough endorsements.
However, according to those within Sisulu’s campaign, Sisulu was not satisfied with Motlanthe’s response.
I can confirm that she has now written a second letter to Motlanthe and members of the committee. Her position is that Motlanthe’s response does not address her request. She has requested for raw data of the branch nominations
Prior to the committee’s branch nomination results announcement, Sisulu was part of ANC leaders — including former Health minister Zweli Mkhize, former AU chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Deputy President David Mabuza and the incumbent, President Cyril Ramaphosa — who were all vying for the ANC president position.
However, according to the committee, only Ramaphosa and Mkhize received enough branch nominations to qualify as conference candidates.
In his response to Sisulu’s initial letter, Motlanthe described Sisulu’s conduct as “preposterous”.
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“According to the official and verified records in possession of the electoral committee, you received a total of 66 nominations.
You would have noted that two other unsuccessful nominees received more branch general meeting nominations than you did. In light of this, your contention that you qualify to be among the top three nominees for the position of president is somewhat puzzling and preposterous
However, those who are part of Sisulu’s campaign insist that the figures provided by the committee were not accurate.
“She has the raw data supporting her position that she qualified. So, what she is requesting is for the committee to provide her with the raw data it has relied on to arrive at a conclusion that she didn’t qualify.”
She is concerned that if not resolved, the dispute has the potential to affect the credibility of the conference. She doesn’t want that to happen, hence the second request she has sent to the committee
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In the 2017 ANC elective conference Sisulu was also part of ANC members vying for the presidency. However, Sisulu at the eleventh hour had pulled out of the race and joined forces with Ramaphosa, who went on to win the ANC presidential race.
The ANC 2022 elective conference, where more than 4 000 party delegates will be voting for their preferred candidates, will take place at Johannesburg’s Nasrec Expo between December 16 and December 20.
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