The group of aggrieved ANC members claim they have been prejudiced as a result of a lack of transparency and flawed internal processes, which they say are open to corruption and manipulation.  

As a result, the group of 16, from different branches, demanded that the ANC’s electoral committee – chaired by Kgalema Motlanthe – publish a full disclosure of the number of branch nominations each of the final 200 nominees for the NEC received. 

The demand is contained in a notice of objection which Daily Maverick has seen. Responding to the authorship of the notice, Motlanthe said it was “dubious and unprofessional” as it was not signed by those who are purported to be the objectors.  

Motlanthe also defended the internal process leading up to the publishing of the names of the 200 nominees, saying all due diligence was exercised by the party’s agency, Elexions, and that all the nomination booklets were opened in front of provincial and regional secretaries to ensure transparency.

“Elexions agency captured all nominations for officials and additional members per region and province. From this data, all nominees who received the majority of nominations for an official position, and 80 additional nominees who received the most nominations in each province, gender-balanced, were listed as the provincial nominees,” said Motlanthe.   

“These nominees were captured on the national database with their total national nominations to determine who would be the top three for each official position and who would be the top 200 for the additional members ballot, as stated in the rules,” said Motlanthe.  

Read in Daily Maverick: “ANC members group cries foul over integrity, transparency of NEC nominations process” 

Motlanthe said the call for the raw data for the top 200 nominees to be published as a matter of urgency was premature, as the committee planned to publish it within the course of this week. This, after the agency approached all successful nominees to find out if they were available, to get their details for verification and check they have completed the vetting process.

Motlanthe said the committee had already published the numbers per province for each of the successful top six nominees, which includes the likes of presidency adviser Benjamin Chauke, Limpopo Premier Stanley Mathabatha, Treasurer General Paul Mashatile, former Cabinet minister Nomvula Mokonyane, President Cyril Ramaphosa and former KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary, Mdumiseni Ntuli. 

Read in Daily Maverick: “ANC TOP 6 – see the branch nominations breakdown with our interactive graphic” 

“We wish to appeal to all ANC comrades… to exercise patience whilst we conduct due diligence necessary for the publication of nomination outcomes and results.”    

Motlanthe denied the allegation that internal processes were prone to manipulation. 

“It is our well-considered view that your objections regarding the electoral processes within the ANC are extremely unfortunate as these are premised on a fundamental misconception of the ANC constitution, as well as the powers, mandate, roles and responsibilities of the electoral committee,” said Motlanthe. 

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The group has since hit back at Motlanthe’s committee, escalating their grievances to the current NEC after failing to get the required response. 

“It has now become evident that the (electoral committee) is not capable of resolving the objection and demands. We are without options but to escalate the matter to your good selves for urgent intervention,” said Fezeka Magano, representative of the objectors. 

The complainants say the basis for the escalation is premised on rule 12.2.3 of the constitution of the ANC. Essentially, they want the NEC to discuss their grievances at its next meeting, which they say is scheduled for 9 December.  

“We further request that this matter not be resolved at the said NEC meeting or at all by Friday 9 December as requested – that this matter be placed on agenda for the national conference scheduled for 16 December 2022.  

“We further request that confirmation that the matter is so placed be communicated to us on Saturday 10 December 2022. Kindly be advised that should we not receive the confirmation as requested, we will have to explore other available avenues – we hope not to be compelled to do so,” said Magano. 

Meanwhile, in another correspondence sent to the committee secretary Chief Matsila, the group reiterates that the consolidation process had to be exhausted prior to the publishing 0f the final list of 200 nominees.   

Read in Daily Maverick: “ANC’s NEC nomination list peppered with young(ish) controversial characters and RET leaders” 

“It is stipulated that  provincial lists are consolidated before final consolidation of the final list of 200 – as such, any attempt at working backwards after the fact, in consolidating the list, is rejected as flawed and lacking integrity.

“We further wish to state that the rules are clear that nominations are published once the entire process of consolidation has been concluded, as such, it is our view that you have conceded that you do not have information demanded… the prejudice as stated in our objection and/or demands should our dispute not be resolved timeously, cannot be overemphasised, we therefore find ourselves without options to escalate the objection and or demands,” said Magano. DM