Durban — A legal showdown is looming between the ANC’s Electoral Commission and ANC members who are disputing the final 200 National Executive Committee list.
Sixteen ANC members including former National Youth League leader Lulu Johnson and energy expert Adil Nchabeleng have challenged the commission to produce raw data to prove they did not garner enough votes to be included on the top 200 list.
The disgruntled members held a media briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday where they voiced their dissatisfaction with the commission’s “inadequate” response. As a result, the aggrieved members said they would escalate the matter to the NEC and if not satisfied with the answer a court challenge would be inevitable.
In response, the commission’s secretary, Chief Matsila, rejected the members’ complaint, saying they lacked locus standi and the complaint was rather “dubious and unprofessional” since the dispute was not signed by the objectors but they chose a person who had no power of attorney to lodge the complaint on their behalf.
The commission said the process was handled in a fair manner since the nominations were opened in front of the provincial leadership and a designated person to verify them.
The commission said it would publish the top 200 nominations data per province after those who were nominated had been vetted and accepted their nominations and asked for patience from the members. It warned members to stop saying things that would compromise the party.
The commission also informed members that it was not a subcommittee of the NEC, so there was no reason for members to take the matter to that structure. Instead, they should have asked for a meeting with the committee to clarify matters.
The members rejected the electoral commission’s response and demanded raw data. The members said all they wanted as ANC members in good standing was to see transparency and accountability about the nomination processes for positions on the ANC NEC.
They said during their meeting on Thursday serious concerns were raised about the inexplicable veil of secrecy regarding the nomination processes and blatant violation of the rules governing nominations and election of ANC leaders and public representatives.
In a statement released after their meeting, the members said the commission flouted its own rules, saying that according to its own rules provincial consolidation of nomination lists, vetting, objections, and disputes were to precede national consolidation which never happened. The members said the commission flouted rules by announcing the final list before vetting, arguing it jumped the gun by doing that.
The statement read: “We were taken aback when a purported final list was published when these steps were not yet undertaken. It is against this backdrop that an initial list of about 16 ANC members in good standing from across the country, that is growing daily, lodged an objection to the Electoral Commission. The objection raised our concerns and misgivings about the apparent flouting of the EC rules and violation of some provisions of the ANC constitution by the Electoral Committee itself.
“We, therefore, believe that the published list is not the true reflection of the Biennial Branch General Meetings nomination processes. Hence, we demand raw data to test the veracity or otherwise of the list. This exercise will then allow us to satisfy ourselves that the list as published was credible and was not tainted by irregularities.”
One of the disputing members, Mogomotsi Mogodiri, told the Daily News on Thursday that their hopes were on the NEC but if it failed to give them a satisfactory answer a court challenge was inevitable.
Daily News