1. INTRODUCTION

The African National Congress (ANC) will be holding its 52nd National Conference from 16-20 December 2007 at the University of Limpopo in Polokwane.

The National Conference, being the supreme ruling and controlling body of the ANC shall, among other things, elect the National Executive Committee (NEC) in accordance with Rule 11.4 of the Constitution as amended and adopted at the 51st National Conference, December 2002.

2. POSITIONS TO BE ELECTED

The following positions will be elected by conference:

• President
• Deputy President
• National Chairperson
• Secretary General
• Deputy Secretary General
• Treasurer General
• 60 NEC Members

3. THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

The following comrades have been appointed by the NEC as members of the Electoral Commission as per Rule 14 of the Constitution:

Cdes Henry Makgothi, Ruth Mompati, Mochubela Seekoe, Laloo Chiba, Ben Turok, Benson Fihla, Essop Jassat, Bertha Gxowa, Rosalia Morutuoa, Makho Njobe, Rashaka Ratshitanga and Gertrude Shope.

According to Rule 14.2 the names of the Electoral Commission shall be submitted to the Conference for endorsement and they will then be reinforced by a representative appointed by each provincial and league delegation.

Members of the Electoral Commission do not make themselves available for election.

4. NOMINATION PROCESS

The nomination process takes place through a process of nomination from branch to provincial level at which the final list of nominees shall be ratified prior to Conference and sent to national for consolidation.

Throughout the process, each branch, province and league is entitled to nominate one person for each of the six Officials positions and no more than 60 people for the remaining NEC positions.

4.1 BRANCH NOMINATIONS

Only branches in good-standing as at 30 June 2007, as confirmed by the national membership audit, are entitled to make nominations. Nominations by branches will take place at quorate branch general meetings (BGMs), on the prescribed Nomination Form. These shall be completed and signed by both the Branch Chairperson and Secretary.

Delegates to Conference are not bound by their province’s nominations or any lists circulated by their region or province. At Conference they can vote on the branch mandate, or the provincial nomination, or be influenced by debates and other nominations that occur at Conference. At Conference further names can be added to any ballot if a nomination is supported by 25% of delegates.

Completed nominations forms should be placed in a sealed envelope and handed to the regional deployee to be taken to the provincial office where it should be placed in a sealed box until the Electoral Commission (EC) or its Agency opens it.

Branch nomination process

All nominations should be informed by thorough discussion of the challenges we face as the ANC and the quality of leadership we need. Branches should use the ‘Eye of a Needle’ document as a guide for these discussions.

Branches should nominate one individual for each of the top six positions. If more than one person is nominated, nominators should be given a chance to motivate and then the branch should vote on their preferred candidate. A series of votes may be held until only two candidates remain. This means the candidate with the lowest number of votes drops out each time. The final nominee should receive more than 50% of the votes of members present.

Branches can nominate up to 60 members for the NEC. Branch members should make nominations until no new names emerge. The BGM should then go through each name and ask members to vote through a show of hands. They should formally nominate only those candidates who get more than 50% of the vote of members present. Branches can nominate up to 60 people.

4.2 PROVINCIAL NOMINATIONS

Provinces will hold Provincial General Councils (PGCs) to finalise and consolidate nominations. This process will take place at a quorate PGC.

The provincial nominations process will be based on a democratic process that uses the branch nominations as a basis.

The sealed boxes containing branch nominations should be opened only by the agency appointed to run the nominations process. Together with provincial monitors, they should add the number of nominations for each person nominated for an Officials’ position. They should then add the number of nominations for each person nominated for the 60 NEC member positions.

The information above should be captured on an electronic system and sent to the Electoral Commission together with the re-sealed nomination forms. This would serve as an original record of the branch nominations from a province.

Nomination conference

A provincial nominations conference may then be called. Representation should reflect the representation to national conference. The voting and nominations procedures at the conference will be managed by the Electoral Commission and its agency, with administrative support from the province

At this conference the composite provincial nominations as determined by branch nominations should be presented. The 60 nominees who received the most branch nominations should automatically become the provincial nominees for NEC, with the provision that should there be less than a minimum of 33% women on this list, the 20 women nominees who received most nominations are placed on the list. Proposals for changes to the list that would enhance representivity and other leadership criteria, may be made at the Provincial Nominations Conference. Names may be added or removed if more than 50% of the delegates agree to the change. The list should be presented for discussion and approval or amendment.

For the nomination of Officials the following process should be followed:

• Each of the Officials’ positions should be discussed and the four people who received most branch nominations should be presented as possible provincial nominations. The merits of each candidate should be debated by allowing a nominator and seconder to speak for that candidate.
• Should the Conference wish to add a name to any ballot, it may be done if 25% of delegates support the addition.
• The delegates should then be allowed to cast a secret ballot and choose the provincial nominee for each position.
• The votes should be in this order: President, Deputy President, National Chairperson, Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General, and Treasurer General. The result should be reported for every position before the next position is voted on.
• The name with the most nominations for each position will be the provincial nomination.

Branch delegates should be informed that they may still vote as their branch mandated at the national conference and are not bound to vote for the provincial nominee.

The nomination forms shall be completed and signed by both the Provincial Chairperson and Secretary on prescribed nomination forms. A member of the Electoral Commission shall be in attendance as an observer to ratify the process.

All consolidated provincial nomination forms must reach the Electoral Commission by no later than Monday 26 November 2007.

4.3 NOMINATION BY THE LEAGUES

The nominations by the Women’s League and Youth League shall follow the same procedure, but with National League Nominations Conferences taking the place of Provincial Nominations Conferences. The final nomination consolidation of the branch, and provincial submissions must be signed by the Presidents and Secretaries of the Leagues.

These nominations must be submitted to the Electoral Commission by no later than Monday 26 November 2007.

4.4 NOMINATION ACCEPTANCE

The Electoral Commission should establish the availabity of nominees. Provinces should furnish the contact numbers of their nominees, if possible. The Electoral Commission will then approach the nominees to indicate formally whether they accept or decline the nomination.

4.5 NOMINATION AUDIT AND VALIDATION

The independent electoral agency appointed to conduct the elections will, in the presence of the Electoral Commission, conduct an audit to determine the validity of candidates standing for election.

The Agency plus the Electoral Commission should tally all provincial nominations for NEC and the top 200 names for NEC should be placed on the ballot paper. If there are not at least 33% women nominated, the top 66 women nominated should be placed on the ballot paper.

For each of the Officials’ positions, the Electoral Commission should select the names of the three candidates who received most provincial and league nominations as possible candidates. All possible candidates should be approached to check availability. Candidates may be nominated for more than one position. Should any of the top three not be available, the next nominee in terms of support may be added to the ballot provided that they received nominations from at least two provinces or leagues.

A consolidated list of candidates will be submitted to the Electoral Commission for distribution to all provinces and the leagues for verification purposes.

4.6 QUOTA FOR WOMEN

In making nominations, structures are reminded of Rule 6, which includes the provision of a quota of at least one-third of women in all ANC structures, and the possibility that Conference may amend the Constitution to provide for 50% women.

4.7 NOMINATION AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

On the opening day of Conference, the independent electoral agency will present to Conference the outcome of the nomination audit for the six Officials’ positions.

The agency will proceed to invite any further nominations from the floor for each of the six Officals positions. To qualify, nominations from the floor will require seconding by 25% of the eligible voters at conference.

A ballot paper will be drawn up based on the final outcome of the nomination audit per position.

The same procedure will be followed for the 60 NEC members’ nomination and election. However, not more than two persons per province may be successfully nominated.

5. ELECTIONS

The election of the National Executive Committee shall take place at the University of Limpopo on 16-20 December 2007.

Procedure for that process will be outlined at Conference.

NB. Comrades are reminded that proposals emerging from the Policy Conference relating to the composition of the NEC, including the proposal on gender parity, still have to be discussed within structures and decided upon by National Conference.