- Bathabile Dlamini is not eligible to run for a position on the national executive committee.
- Dlamini received a letter informing him that he could not appear due to a perjury conviction.
- The process of announcing the nominees for the party’s decision-making body has been marred by complaints.
Former ANC Women’s League leader Bathabile Dlamini is ineligible to run for a seat on the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) due to a perjury conviction.
On Wednesday, Dlamini received a letter outlining that the ANC election committee’s vetting process had removed her from running for one of the top six posts or any other leadership position.
“The investigative information available to us reveals that you have a record of having been found guilty of a serious crime in a court of law, in which the prison sentence had been more than six months,” says the letter signed by the president of the electoral committee of the ANC. , Kgalema Motlanthe, stated.
Dlamini was found guilty in March and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment or a R200,000 fine.
Dlamini received 856 nominations to return to the NEC when the party heads to a conference next week.
The former minister tweeted on Thursday what appeared to be accusations that she was being “told stories about her nomination.”
Before the start of the nomination process, Motlanthe told ANC members that members who had been convicted of crimes could not run for leadership positions.
News24 approached the ANC election committee about Dlamini’s exclusion, but was told the committee had no opinion on specific exclusions.
ANC nomination complaints
The election committee believes some ANC members “want to prevail on the ballot without being nominated” after complaints were filed challenging the 200 names nominated for the party’s decision-making body.
The election committee secretary, Chief Livhuwani Matsila, said ANC members had been on a media tour to air their grievances over baseless allegations over the compilation of the top 200 nominated members.
Matsila told News24 that these members had not provided any evidence to support their claims.
Motlanthe announced the final 200 nominees for the NEC last week.
News24 previously reported on ANC members who had complained about the list, citing gender and even age disparities.
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Several key former ANC leaders did not make the shortlist, either because they rejected the nomination or because they did not meet the qualification numbers.
Some former NEC members not on the list include Tony Yengeni, Pravin Gordhan, and Derek Hanekom. The latter indicated that he had rejected the nomination.
The complaints about the selection of the top nominees began when NEC member Lindiwe Sisulu questioned the committee about what she believed to be her exclusion from the nomination.
“You are raising these serious allegations without the slightest bit of evidence, and we ask you to present evidence. They cannot go crazy and bring accusations against the electoral committee,” Matsila said.
“The process began in the branches, and they nominated those they preferred to lead the ANC. Once the branches made the nominations, we consolidated the numbers provincially into the top 80 by province, which resulted in the national consolidation of the top 200 nominations in the country. And these peers are not on the list, which is their complaint.”
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Matsila said those who questioned the outcome of legitimate branch nominations doubted the decisions made by ANC members in the week before the nomination process closed.
“The branches of the ANC should be the ones to file complaints about the non-consideration of their nominations. It is against ANC tradition for comrades to cry when they are not nominated. We ask that you accept the results of the nominations and respect the 4,000 branches that nominated who they prefer to lead.
“When you question the integrity of the nominations, you are questioning the work of the branches. You are questioning their preferences,” she said.
The ANC’s elective conference begins on December 16 and fierce lobbying for positions ahead of the conference is expected to continue.
