The ANC has rejected claims that it is delaying its list process to avoid mass resignations by supporters of former president Thabo Mbeki.
There has been speculation that a number of senior ANC members are poised to quit the party to join former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota’s new party.
In the past few weeks a number of senior ANC members, including former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa, announced their resignations.
However, it has been suggested that most of Mbeki’s supporters are waiting for the election lists before going public with their resignations.
Despite initial reports that the ANC would start the list process in October, the ruling party has still not initiated it. Several ANC leaders in the provinces who spoke to the Mail & Guardian last week said they were still waiting for the party’s national leadership to release guidelines before they could begin drawing up provincial lists.
”We have not been given the go-ahead by the leadership to start. We can do that only once they provide us with the guidelines.”
Senior ANC leader from Mpumalanga claimed the ANC did not want to begin the process at this point, to prevent those excluded from the lists from resigning.
”The strategy is to buy time and start the list process closer to election time. This would ensure that those who resign do not have enough time to campaign for the new party,” said the leader.
This week ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte denied that the party’s delay in releasing the guidelines was an attempt to head off mass resignations.
”Anybody who says that is wrong,” said Duarte. Maintaining that the process was taking longer than expected because the national leadership wanted to ensure that everything was done correctly, she said the guidelines have been completed and will be sent to branches in two weeks’ time.
Duarte said the ANC’s national list conference would be held only some time in January.
In another development the ANC has backtracked on its attempt to get two former ANC presidents, Thabo Mbeki and Nelson Mandela, to campaign for the party ahead of next year’s elections.
Contradicting an earlier pronouncement by ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe that the party expected Mandela and Mbeki to lobby ahead of next year’s election, the ANC now claims it did not ask the two men to play a role in the election campaign.
Duarte said: ”Contrary to reports, the ANC has not asked Nelson Mandela or Thabo Mbeki to participate in the election campaign.
”When the ANC was questioned about this matter by the media, it simply restated the general approach that during the course of an election campaign the ANC will mobilise all its cadres and leaders.”
The ANC’s apparent rethink on its initial attempts to draw Mbeki and Mandela into its election campaign follows revelations that both men had turned down the ANC’s request.
In a letter to Jacob Zuma published by the Mail & Guardian two weeks ago Mbeki appealed for his name not to be used falsely ”to promote their partisan cause, including how the 2009 ANC election campaign will be conducted”.