Once the party is clear of the credentials issue it would move on to tackle further “family issues”
ANC Treasurer General, Zweli Mkhize, says there is “nothing untoward” about the delay at the party’s 54th national conference taking place at Nasrec in Johannesburg over the next few days.
Having kicked off on Saturday, the ANC conference programme was already running almost a day behind when delegates departed that evening.
On Saturday night, disputes around credentials could not be resolved and the plenary session was adjourned to continue on Sunday morning.
“There is a little bit of a delay, but normally conference progresses like that. We don’t expect such an event to move on without any hitches,” said Mkhize. He briefly addressed the audience at the Progressive Business Forums breakfast briefing, held on the sidelines of the conference, before rushing off to join the session as it began.
Mkhize said the delays stemmed from court judgements. Three judgements – from the high court in KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and North West mean that, reportedly, more than 100 delegates have been barred from voting for the new leadership of the ANC. Around 5000 delegates are in attendance at the conference.
Once the party is clear of the credentials issue it would move on to tackle further “family issues” such as constitutional amendments and the presentation of the ANC’s financial report, Mkhize said.
The results of vote for the next president of the ANC was scheduled for Sunday evening but now looks likely to run into Monday.
“Please don’t ask us about outcome of results,” said Mkhize. “We don’t predict here … we don’t throw bones here or do crystal gazing.” He said the delegates would decide the outcome, and remained in fairly good spirits at present.