ANC "Nomination Process" Document.
The ANC ‘Nomination Process’ document, adopted by the national executive committee (NEC) in September 2017, makes it very clear that the decision to elevate any presidential candidate to the party’s highest position will ultimately be expressed by the branches. The NEC, according to the party’s constitution, is the highest decision-making body in between conferences.
This clearly shows the power has been handed to the branches, as 90% of the voting delegates at the conference will be from branches. The balance will be made of other structures of the party, such as the leagues. A decade ago, the discretion to finalise nominees for the party’s top six leaders and the coveted 80 spots on the NEC laid with the provincial general councils (PGC).
After all provinces concluded the process of nominating candidates for the top six and NEC, branch nominations were to be placed in sealed envelopes that are opened at the provincial general councils in the presence of the party’s electoral commission. This was done to eliminate fraud and vote-rigging, as outgoing secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told the media.
The process makes it very clear that branch nominations are not the only avenue through which nominations can be made. Those who did not make it to the lists from the provinces can still make the cut, provided they garner enough support from delegates during the conference. This is what several political analysts have termed the “third way”, should voting delegates not reach consensus on the leading two presidential hopefuls.
“At the national conference, delegates are not bound by their province or league’s preferred nominations or any lists circulated by their region or province or league. They can vote on the branch mandate, or the majority provincial nomination or be influenced by debates and other nominations that occur at conference,” the document states.
READ THE DOCUMENT IN FULL HERE
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