Durban — The opening of the KwaZulu-Natal ANC elective conference could be delayed further after the issue of credentials was raised.
The atmosphere at the Olive Convention Centre appeared to have already been contaminated after a group of members from the eThekwini Municipality’s ward 91 in Mpumalanga, west of Durban, picketed outside the venue, demanding the removal of six delegates from their ward whom they claimed were fraudulently selected to represent the ward without due process.
One of the leaders from the group said they decided to go to the venue to voice their disagreement over the selection of the delegates without their input as members of the party in good standing.
The leader said there was no branch meeting to discuss and elect the delegates whom they would have been given the mandate to vote for, adding they did not know who those delegates would vote for.
“We are tired of gatekeeping, and we wanted to raise the issue with the national executive members, who will be overseeing the conference, to take our grievances into consideration before starting the conference. All we are saying is that those six delegates should be withdrawn, or their votes must be quarantined,” said the leader.
The group was addressed by ANC provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela, who said the provincial leadership would first talk to the regional leadership to check whether the issue was raised with them and how they tackled it before the provincial and the conference sterling committee intervened.
Ntombela said that the votes of the delegates in question could potentially be quarantined if the steering committee finds the complaints are genuine.
The group said they had written to everyone from the region right up to the national leadership, so everyone was aware of their problem.
Explaining the delay, Ntombela said the conference had already been delayed since it was scheduled to start at 10am, saying it would start at 2pm but at the time of the publishing, it had not started.
Reports said the conference was set for a late 5pm start.
The position which is expected to be fiercely contested at the conference is that of the provincial chairperson, with at least six members gunning for the role.
Those members include current provincial chairperson Sihle Zikalala, businessman Sandile Zungu, current provincial treasurer Nomusa Dube-Ncube and former provincial government director-general Nhlanhla Ngidi.
Daily News