ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe adressing the media Photo Nasreen Naidoo
African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson Pule Mabe confirmed that day two of its national elective conference was underway at noon on Saturday, contrary to earlier reports. He also said it was on track to conclude on time.
“We had said that when we start today with session three, it will be a closed session. We are now in the closed session of the conference,” he told journalists at a media briefing on Saturday.
“Conference is in session. The deputy president is on the podium. He is delivering the organisational report,” he said, adding, “after the organisational report, they will deal and attend to clarifications and adoption of that report. Afterwards, we will go to the financial report.”
Mabe said delegates were on track to deal with the various reports before moving on to nominations for additional National Officials. He added it was likely they would vote for top officials by the end of the day.
“We are hoping that today we will deal with all reports and we will also deal with the nomination of officials and possibly the voting of officials later on.”
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On track
Mabe further stated the adoption of credentials was all that needed to be finalised before delegates could get on with the business of the conference. He said this was an important process.
“Credentials are meant to assist the organisation to qualify those who must participate in the deliberations necessary to facilitate resolutions, consensus and decisions,” he said.
It would require exerted effort from delegates to ensure the 55th conference concluded by December 20th.
“Our delegates just have to understand that we may have to work for much longer than we had anticipated, so that we can still meet the timelines we have set out to do this conference. The systems are in motion [and] everything is going as planned.”
Disgruntled members
Meanwhile, Mabe also addressed disgruntlement among some members who have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the current leadership.
He said the organisation’s constitution assured the right of members to express their views, but urged them to do so in line with its objective of unity.
“When members express their views outside meetings even if they are in the leadership, they can’t get disciplinary hearings simply for [expressing their views]. One of the rights that ANC members enjoy is freedom of expression.”
Former president Jacob Zuma’s arrival upstaged President Cyril Ramaphosa’s opening address on Friday. Delegates from KwaZulu-Natal broke into songs demanding accountability for the Phala Phala scandal and asking what Zuma had done.
“Freedom of expression must be done in a way that also promotes the unity of the African National Congress. Imagine what would happen if everyone who just spoke outside, at Sasol garage, just got charged?”
