Deadline for completion of ANC branch general meetings shifted again

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The ANC has again shifted the deadline for completing the branch general meetings (BGMs) central to the nomination process for its 55th nation conference in December at which leaders are elected.

Delays in completing the meetings, which have been proceeding at a painfully slow pace in some provinces, mean that only 1 333 branches out of a potential 3 979  had qualified by the time the party held its special national executive committee (NEC) meeting last Thursday.

At the BGMs, ANC members choose their preferred candidates for the top six and the rest of the NEC, and elect delegates who will attend the conference, which will be held at Nasrec in Johannesburg on 16 December, on their behalf.

The new top leadership — six officials and an 80-member NEC — will serve a five-year term of office.

In a memorandum to provincial and regional secretaries and coordinators, acting secretary general Paul Mashatile said the NEC meeting had heard progress reports on the BGM process and had decided to shift the deadline from 25 October to 7 November.

“The NEC reflected on some of the challenges faced by branches, including load-shedding, the impact of industrial action, and systems issues,” Mashatile said in the memorandum. “Based on an assessment of these reports, it was clear that a number of branches would not be able to hold their BGMs by the extended deadline.”

Mashatile said the ANC electoral committee had been informed of the decision and had revised the programme leading up to the conference.

Provinces now had until 12 November to consolidate their branch nominations for the top six and NEC members.

Vetting of candidates and signing of their acceptance forms would now close on 18 November, with the electoral committee being given until 22 November to deal with complaints and appeals.

The final list of candidates — three for each of the top six positions and 200 for the additional NEC members — would be published and emailed to branches on 24 November.

It is not yet clear whether the provincial general council meetings traditionally held ahead of the conference will still be held, given the backlog in BGMs.

An analysis submitted to last week’s NEC meeting showed that just over a third of branches had qualified thus far, with another 2 646 either disqualified or still needing to hold their BGMs.

In KwaZulu-Natal, 417 of 835 branches had qualified, while only 205 of Limpopo’s 559 had completed the process.

In the Eastern Cape, a province that will be central to Cyril Ramaphosa’s bid for a second term as president, only 181 of 641 branches had held successful BGMs.

The situation was even worse in the North West, where only 42 of 342 branches had qualified, while in the Free State, only 58 of 280 eligible branches had successfully held BGMs.

KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said he was confident they would complete the process on 7 November if BGMs continued at the current rate.

“We are not finished. We think we should be done by the 7th at the rate we are going,” Mndebele said.

BGMs had been delayed by load-shedding and by some difficulties with scanners, while some branches had been instructed to re-run their meetings after failing the initial audit process.

Attempts for comment from ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe were unsuccessful at the time of writing.