South Africa’s governing party completed the registration of 4,426 voting delegates attending its five-yearly national conference in Johannesburg, a process that was dogged by a series of delays, clearing the way for its internal elections to proceed.
(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s governing party completed the registration of 4,426 voting delegates attending its five-yearly national conference in Johannesburg, a process that was dogged by a series of delays, clearing the way for its internal elections to proceed.
Challenges included a new registration system, a poor computer network, faulty equipment and power cuts, the African National Congress’s credentials committee said in a report. There were also late changes to some delegate lists and problems with tags and photos, it said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is running for a second term as ANC leader, and faces a challenge from former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize. Delegates will also choose six other top officials and 80 additional members of the ANC’s National Executive Committee. The five-day gathering is due to end on Dec. 20, with voting now likely to take place on Sunday.
ANC Membership Nosedives (Dec. 17, 9 p.m.)
The ANC’s membership has fallen sharply over the past two years, a decline that mirrors its waning support.
The credential committee’s report shows the party has 691,381 paid-up members, down from 1.6 million in July 2020. ANC spokesman Pule Mabe estimated earlier on Saturday that there were about 1 million ANC members but said the number was based on raw data that had to be refined.
“The sharp fall in membership numbers shows the general apathy toward the party and organizational disarray,” said Melanie Verwoerd, an independent political analyst and former ANC lawmaker. “The use of an electronic membership system by the ANC since its last national conference in 2017 also lends credence to suspicions then that membership numbers had been inflated.”
ANC Conference Resumes (Dec. 17, 2:30 p.m.)
Proceedings on Saturday got under way several hours later than planned. Deputy President David Mabuza presented reports on the state of the party during a closed session that took place a day later than scheduled.
A report was also due to be presented on the ANC’s finances, and additional nominations for leadership posts sought from the conference floor.
Godongwana Says Policy Shift Unlikely (Dec. 17, 8 a.m. )
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana told business leaders attending a breakfast on the sidelines of the conference that ANC policy isn’t determined by the party’s leaders and won’t necessarily shift if power does change hands. He also said he’d be prepared to continue working with Ramaphosa or Mkhize.
“Unlike in the USA where the policy belongs to the president, policy belongs to the party, so irrespective of the change in government, the party will continue to pursue its policy,” Godongwana said. “I am not panicking an inch about who comes out.”
Ramaphosa Warns of Graft Crackdown (Dec. 16, 6:15 p.m.)
Ramaphosa described those who were guilty of state capture, a term used to describe the mass looting of state funds during his predecessor’s Jacob Zuma nine-year rule, as “anti-democratic and anti-revolutionary,” without identifying name anyone. “Whoever they are and wherever they are, they will be held responsible,” he said, while looking in Zuma’s direction.
The president’s speech was interrupted by delegates from KwaZulu-Natal who want him to be replaced by Mkhize, the province’s former premier. They sang songs in support of Zuma, who was forced to step down as president in 2018 after being implicated in a succession of scandals.
Pace of Land Reform Too Slow: Ramaphosa (Dec. 16, 6 p.m.)
The ANC resolved at its last national conference in 2017 to change the constitution to make it easier for the state to take land without paying for it, but its plans required backing from two-thirds of lawmakers and were derailed by the opposition. The pace of land reform remains too slow and the ANC is pursuing other avenues to address racially skewed ownership patterns, Ramaphosa said.
“Since the advent of democracy, government has transferred over 4 million hectares of land through restitution and over 5 million hectares through redistribution, accounting for nearly 11% of commercial farmland,” he said. “This is far below the initial target of 30% by 2014.”
–With assistance from Monique Vanek and Rene Vollgraaff.
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