It emerged this week that some branches have put the word ‘unity’ where they are supposed put the name of the person they want to lead the party.
The ANC in Mpumalanga says a newspaper report alleging branches have been ordered by chairman DD Mabuza not to nominate is misleading.
The party has now called on all branches to continue with their nomination meetings and not listen to those who might want to confuse them and advance “a particular outcome”.
It says Mabuza never instructed anybody to not nominate as this would be in breach of ANC constitution and that branches were free to nominate the leaders they want.
News24 this week reported that as the ANC branch nomination meetings are currently underway in the country, branches in Mpumalanga have been ordered by Mabuza and some PEC members to write the word ‘unity’ on their nomination forms, instead of the names of the leaders they want to serve in the top 6.
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Provincial spokeswoman Sasekani Manzini said such is false and called on all ANC members to refrain from spreading lies in the media as this will undermine the credibility of their nomination meetings.
She says where branches have decided not to nominate or wrote ‘unity’ on their nomination forms have chosen to do so themselves and not on the instruction from above.
“The PEC would like to put it on record that it has never taken a decision to instruct branches who to nominate,” she said.
“We respect the constitution of the ANC and the nomination guidelines issued by the NEC and we cannot at any point say or do anything that contravenes these two documents which seek to ensure that the ANC convenes a credible and successful national conference,” Manzini said.
She refuted claims that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has been gaining massive support so far in branches, with 18 of the 23 branches that have met so far in Bohlabela nominating CR.
“The PEC will also like to condemn the misleading report of numbers on branch nominations,” she said.
“The PEC confirms that there has been no official counting of branch nominations and this will not take place, because after BGMs, nomination packages are sealed and sent to head office. So the numbers expressed in the article are not accurate, but an imagination of those who want to see a particular outcome from the process of BGMs,” she said.
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(edited by MLM)
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