Saturday, December 16, 2017

ANC CONFERENCE: VOTING DECISION ON NULLIFIED STRUCTURES MET WITH MIXED REACTION
This came as ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe announced on Saturday that all provincial structures nullified by the courts would not be allowed to vote at the national conference.

Members of the ANC sing and dance outside the plenary at the #ANC54 in Nasrec on 16 December 2017. Picture: Thomas Holder/EWN

Mia Lindeque
Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG – There has been a mixed reaction from Free State delegates who have arrived at the University of Johannesburg, the ANC’s registration centre for the 54th national conference.

This came as ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe announced on Saturday that all provincial structures nullified by the courts would not be allowed to vote at the party's national conference.

A bus transporting Free State delegates arrived at the university a few minutes after Mantashe’s announcement.

A Free State voting delegate told Eyewitness News he was concerned by the NEC’s decision.

“This is going to affect us big time and it will affect our support a lot.”

But another Free State voting delegate said the decision was insignificant.

“This will not affect the entire province, because it is only some of those branches.”

The decision by the NEC followed a special meeting on Saturday morning.

It means that some delegates from Kwazulu-Natal, North West and the Free State will not be allowed to vote at the national conference.

Mantashe announced: “The decision taken there is that it’s the Free State, it’s KwaZulu-Natal and then Bojanala. All the structures that are nullified will not be voting delegates at the conference. We’re not going to try any idea that will actually contaminate the conference.”

However, some appeared unaware of the ANC’s decision and made their way into the plenary, singing songs in support of their preferred candidates.

A briefing is also expected by the ANC at the University of Johannesburg in Soweto, where there have been some problems with registration.

The registration process has been delayed by several hours. Meanwhile, buses transporting delegates are still arriving at the university with members from provinces affected by the NEC’s decision on voting.

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