Votes cast for the top six positions on the African National Congress’s national executive committee will be counted by hand, party officials said on Sunday night.
However, it is not yet clear whether the votes for the rest of the 60 seats on the NEC will be counted manually or electronically.
”Voting will be entirely manual for the top six,” party media official Thabo Masebe told journalists.
This was confirmed by a member of the ANC electoral commission after a robust session at the ANC’s 52nd national conference in Polokwane on Sunday.
ANC Youth League spokesman Zizi Kodwa called for a manual count to ”eliminate any suspicion” in the ”contested” election. The ANCYL has expressed fears of vote rigging.
ANC electoral commission chairperson Bertha Gxowa cautioned that a manual count would take longer than an electronic count.
”We will do it manually, but you must be prepared that you won’t get all the election results in time,” she told delegates.
Kodwa said with manual votes, nominees would be assured they had been ”beaten free and fair”.
”Let’s confirm manually, even if it takes long,” he said.
Gxowa drew a chorus of boos when she told delegates soon after the conference opened on Sunday morning that the counting of votes for the top leadership positions would take place electronically.
This would be done using scanners, under the scrutiny of observers from the party’s provinces. Manual counting would be done where there were disputes.
In an address to the conference earlier on Sunday, Gxowa also proposed that in the case of a tie for a position, the names of the contenders be put in a hat and the name drawn declared the winner.
Gxowa has banned cameras and cellphones from the voting area amid reports that delegates have been promised payment for votes on provision of a photograph of the cross on their ballot paper.
Singing and campaigning have also been prohibited in the area where delegates cast their ballots. – Sapa