ANC hails peaceful councillor nomination meetings in KZN
ANC provincial spokesperson Sifiso Sonjica commended party members for ensuring that the meetings were conducted in accordance with the ANC's internal rules
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has hailed its structures across the province for conducting largely peaceful and incident-free branch general meetings (BGMs) to nominate ward councillor candidates ahead of the November local government elections.
The meetings, which are taking place across the party’s 11 regions in the province, mark a significant departure from previous election cycles when the nomination process was frequently overshadowed by factional disputes, disruptions and allegations of manipulation.
This time, the ANC says the overwhelming majority of branches have successfully completed the nomination process in an orderly manner, reflecting growing organisational discipline as it prepares for the crucial local government polls.
ALSO READ | ANC seeks divine intervention ahead of KZN Local Government elections
ANC provincial spokesperson Sifiso Sonjica commended party members for ensuring that the meetings were conducted in accordance with the ANC’s internal rules and democratic processes.
“As the ANC provincial leadership, we would like to applaud our members across the regions for ensuring that the BGMs were conducted in line with ANC guidelines, values and principles,” he Sonjica.
The peaceful conduct in the BGMs, Sonjica said, demonstrated the commitment of ANC members to strengthening the organisation and allowing branches to exercise their democratic right to nominate candidates without unnecessary conflict.
Although the provincial leadership had expected all branches to have completed the nomination process over the previous weekend, Sonjica said a small number of branches had been unable to convene their meetings for various logistical and organisational reasons.
ALSO READ | ANCWL pushes for PMB women to dominate councillor nominations
“I can confirm that some of our branches were not able to convene their BGMs,” he said.
Sonjica expressed confidence that the remaining branches would finalise their meetings during the coming weekend, allowing the ANC in the province to move to the next phase of the candidate selection process.
In terms of the ANC guidelines, once the branches have nominated candidates, they are then presented to the local community — which can either endorse or reject the candidates.
Once those processes have been concluded, the names of the candidates are then forwarded to the ANC provincial office. ANC members unhappy with the manner in which their BGMs nominated the candidates, have the opportunity to appeal the nominations.
ALSO READ | ANC cracks down on dual membership as elections loom
In cases where there are no appeals, the ANC provincial leadership will verify the nominations before candidates are subjected to further processes, including screening and approval, ahead of the submission of candidate lists to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
