ANC ELECTORAL COMMISSION PRESS STATEMENT, 13 DECEMBER 2012

LUTHULI HOUSE

The ANC Electoral Commission was appointed by the National Executive Committee of the ANC and took office on 16 October 2012. The mandate of the Electoral Commission (EC) is to oversee the election of the leadership of the ANC and to ensure that it is a democratic, free and fair process as set out by the Constitution of the ANC. In order to do so it appointed an independent elections agency to provide technical support to the work of the commission.

In terms of the elections guidelines, the ANC Leagues are treated as provinces thus the ANC has 12 provinces for the purpose of electing its leadership.

The stages of the elections process include:

• auditing of members and branches to ensure they are in good standing to participate in the electoral process (ANC managed process)
• branch nominations, which are supervised by ANC regional deployees who thereafter deposit the branch nomination forms and BGM reports in sealed and tamper proof envelopes into tamper proof boxes allocated per region at the provincial office of the ANC
• Provincial Nominations Conferences where branch nominations are consolidated through voting by secret ballot for the six official positions and open voting through a show of hands for the additional 80 NEC members . This process concludes with a Provincial nomination outcome.
• consolidation of the various Provincial nominations to create a consolidated ballot of all nominated candidates
• screening of nominated candidates to ensure they meet the organisational requirements of being members of good standing to participate in the election of the NEC and finding out if they accept or decline nomination
• floor nomination at the National Conference where further candidates can be nominated and included in the ballot provided they receive 25% support of delegates at the conference voting by secret ballot for the six officials and 80 additional members and the announcement of the successfully elected leadership of the ANC.

All Provinces (including the Leagues) have completed their nomination processes and the lists of all nominated candidates have been consolidated. Candidates are now been screened to ensure they meet the organisational requirement of being members in good standing for at least five years and whether they indeed accept or decline nomination. As soon as this is completed the final list of nominees will be published for delegates to consider their options and be ready for the next steps of the election process that will happen at the Conference.

A fundamental principle and policy of the ANC is that at least 50% of the nominated candidates should be female.

The ANC elections process is designed to give ANC members and branches the ultimate voice in the election of their leadership. As such hundreds of thousands of ANC members would have been involved in the election process by the time the conference convenes in Mangaung.

The Electoral Commission has noted the reports in the media that suggested that the process has been faced with challenges in many instances. Many of these challenges were dealt with by the relevant structures including the PEC and NEC in the various provinces where they emerged. We have always understood that a thoroughly democratic process such as the ANC has outlined for itself would be met with challenges.

Indeed, we were not surprised by the lively and robust debate that characterised the electoral process thus far as this typifies the deeply entrenched traditions of democracy and participation of all members of the ANC in determining the future of their organisation. No party in South Africa and very few internationally can lay claim to this deeply entrenched culture of inner party democracy and participation.

The critical issue for the Electoral Commission is to act on any matter that arises with fairness and impartiality to ensure that the entire process remains credible and legitimate. The EC is comprised, amongst others, of an esteemed team of ANC stalwarts who have served the ANC tirelessly and selflessly for decades. As such they hold the unity and credibility of the ANC as paramount and thus continuously emphasise the conduct of a credible, legitimate and fair election process as being the central purpose for the existence of the Elections Commission

The ANC's 53rd National Conference is a watershed conference as it marks the end of a century of a fighting People's Movement and the beginning of yet another crucial period of struggle. In undertaking its work, the EC is mindful of this fact and therefore we continue to work diligently to ensure the elections process is fair and in accordance with the constitution of the ANC.

The EC has also noted the appetite of the media to want to predict the outcome of elections. As the EC we do not make predetermined decisions or predictions about the outcome of elections. We do not view the outcome of any of the phases mentioned above as constituting the success or failure of any candidate in the elections process. The ultimate determination of success in the elections is the voting that will take place at our conference in Managung. Only after delegates have voted will the votes be counted and the successful candidates announced.

List of Commissioners

1. Cde. Mochubela Seekoe (Chairperson)

2. Cde. Sophia De Bruyn (Deputy Chairperson)

3. Cde. Andrew Mlangeni

4. Ruth Mompati

5. Cde. Tlholo Mohlathe

6. Cde. Baby Tyawa 

7. Cde. Eric Mtshali

8. Cde. Hermanus Loots

9. Cde. Ben Fihla

10. Cde. Lydia Komape

11. Cde. Tshilidzi Ratshitanga

12. Cde. Roshene Singh

13. Cde. Khehla Shubane

Commission Staff:

1. Karabo Musi

2. Ravin Singh

3. Lesego Shoke

Statement issued by on behalf of the Electoral Commission by Comrade Frene Ginwala, Electoral Commission Spokesperson, December 13 2012

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