Although at least two of the provincial gatherings of the African National Congress (ANC) started in chaos at the weekend, the election lists they compiled will be released next weekend when the national lists are finally put together by the national list committee.
It seems certain that the provincial parties have chosen Jacob Zuma to head the list of candidates.
ANC Gauteng chairperson Paul Mashatile said: ”The ANC candidate for the president of the republic is Jacob Zuma.
”We’re confident that under his leadership, and the collective that he will appoint, our country will develop further and indeed, working with you, will take our country to a higher trajectory of growth and development.”
But it is also clear that there is much more horse-trading to be done on the issue mandated by the Polokwane conference that at least half of the candidates for public office — in this particular case, the office of provincial premier — must be female.
This may mean disappointment for as many as four provincial chairpersons, who could otherwise have expected to be their party candidate for the province’s top job.
Chaos erupts
In the Eastern and Western Cape chaos reigned for four or five hours before events got under way at the list conferences.
The problem in the Western Cape was that defections to the Congress of the People (Cope) and the tail end of the holiday had left many branches unable to provide the 50% plus one of its membership for the meeting.
Accordingly, the rule was relaxed to allow 40% to be the permitted figure.
The Eastern Cape, which has also been under threat from Cope, started late because the agency running the process did not show up until after midday.
A week after the national ANC manifesto was drawn up, the Gauteng party launched its own version.
Mashatile, also currently Gauteng’s premier, said: ”The African National Congress election manifesto focuses on the five main issues of work, health, education, crime and rural development.
He said the ANC wanted to create work, to provide quality healthcare, to improve the quality of education of children, to fight crime and to develop rural and impoverished communities.
”We are making progress in reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of millions of South Africans,” he added.
”This we can say without fear of contradiction; that we have made massive progress in delivering on the pledge we made to our people during the 2004 general elections.
”In 2004, we committed ourselves to the objective of building a people’s contract to create work and fight poverty, so that by 2014, poverty and unemployment is reduced by half. We want our people to work. Most importantly, we will create decent work opportunities for all, and ensure that our policies continue to empower the youth and women.”
Fighting crime remained a key priority of the party. Certain categories of crime were reduced in certain parts of our province over the past five years, he said.
”Crime has been reduced drastically and we are confident that by working together with our people and the security agencies, we will win the fight against crime.”
‘Eating into the ANC like a cancerous tumour’
The United Democratic Movement will launch its manifesto next weekend, but the party leader Bantu Holomisa gave an indication of its contents when he told a meeting that the party will call for a preliminary investigation into the arms deal to be headed by a judge to determine whether there are grounds for a full independent Judicial Commission of Inquiry.
”As we have been saying for years, this thing is eating into the body politic of the ruling party like a cancerous tumour, but is also tarnishing the image of the country,” he said. ”It is high time that we resolve the entire issue, even if that means that a range of high-ranking people are prosecuted.”
Holomisa also spoke about the pressure on President Motlanthe to sign the Scorpions Bills into law.
”If the ANC is so eager to disband the Scorpions, why can’t they wait three months to get a mandate from the voters?” he asked. ”Why do they want Motlanthe to do this dirty job for them?” — I-Net Bridge