Former president Thabo Mbeki will turn down the African National Congress’s (ANC) Gauteng nomination for a seat in the National Assembly, according to his spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga.
”He is not going to accept the nomination. He is retired from active politics. In any event had he served his full term, he was not going to serve as a public representative,” said Ratshitanga.
Mbeki’s name came as a surprise when the list of qualifying candidates was handed to the media at a briefing on Wednesday. He and other nominees have until Thursday to say whether they will accept the nominations or not.
Mbeki’s decision to turn the nomination down might be seen as an unwillingness to work under other party leaders. When he was recalled last year, however, Mbeki said he was willing to serve the party in any position it wanted him in.
ANC Gauteng provincial secretary David Makhura told journalists that branches do not have to give reasons for nominating candidates to the lists.
”He [Mbeki], like many who you see here, has been nominated. I don’t know [why] and I don’t think the list committee will know,” said Makhura when asked why Gauteng nominated Mbeki while the national leadership said the party had lost confidence in him.
At the briefing Makhura and the province’s election manager, Barbara Creecy, reported on the province’s election campaign progress and provided an update on the list process.
Besides uncertainty of the level of support some premiers have in their provinces, Edna Molewa of North West, Mpumalanga’s Thabang Makwetla and Sello Moloto of Limpopo all made it to the national list, indicating they could get seats in the National Assembly.
Tony Yengeni, who served four months of a four-year sentence for defrauding Parliament, also features on the Gauteng list despite qualifying criteria stating that nominees should not have a criminal record.
Makhura said the list committee would look into this issue before the province finalises its list later in the week.
‘No one will slip through’
”There is no single person who’s going to slip through the eye of the needle,” he said.
One of the ANC’s documents discussed before the Polokwane conference — Through the Eye of the Needle — sets out the broad requirements of leadership for the party and it will be used as a guideline for screening and short-listing the names of candidates.
The ANC in Gauteng said it is ready for any date that might be announced for elections. ”The opposition poses no threat to the ANC in this province,” said Makhura.
The province will kick-start its election campaign this Sunday at the Huntersfield stadium in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg. ”The aim of the Katlehong rally is to popularise the ANC Manifesto,” Makhura added.
ANC volunteers who’ll help the party campaign in Gauteng were trained for six months and have been advised to concentrate on selling the party manifesto instead of attacking other political parties.
”We want to retain what we see as our traditional support base, but we also want to represent the full spectrum of South Africans,” said Creecy on growing support in middle class areas.
Gauteng will complete its candidate selection process at a provincial list conference in Braamfontein this Saturday before taking the list to the national list conference the following weekend.