Announcement of new ANC president now only expected Monday morning

The announcement of the next leader of the ANC is now only expected to take place on Monday morning. This was after the credential process for the 54th elective conference was delayed from its scheduled time on Saturday afternoon following the outcomes of court cases in the North West, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, the party's deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said on Sunday. Duarte held an impromptu press briefing following the adoption of credentials. She said there were no inflated numbers of delegates during the adoption of credentials for the conference. "Credentials is not just about nodding your head, it's [about] checking thoroughly... There was no inflation whatsoever," she assured the media. The members of the provincial executive committee (PEC) of KwaZulu-Natal will not vote unless appointed as branch delegates, she said. In the North West, 35 branches were disqualified. "It takes a lot of work because you also have to explain to the delegate why they have been disqualified. They had to be converted to non-voting delegates."

'We do it for credibility'

In the Free State, 40 branches, with a fairly substantial amount of delegates, were disqualified. The PEC there would also not be able to vote, unless appointed as branch delegates. She added the situation with credentials had created difficulty, "however we have managed it". She dismissed allegations that the delay in the adoption of credentials by a day was unusual. "It's not unusual to delay credentials. We do it for the credibility. This is the one point where people used to... [approach the] court. We have been extremely careful... The credentials have been adopted." Next in the ANC programme was the discussion around proposals for changes to the ANC constitution. This would happen during the closed session. The nominations of the top positions would then follow in an open session. "We hope to start voting at some point later this afternoon and have those results possibly by tomorrow [Monday] morning." An organisational report by secretary general Gwede Mantashe would be delivered on Monday as well. She said the party was hoping that the conference would be over by Wednesday night.

NEWS24