05/09/2017
For immediate release
5 September 2017
STATEMENT OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS ON
PREPARATIONS TOWARDS THE 54TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE
The African National Congress (ANC) will convene its 54th National
Conference from the 16th to the 20th December 2017 in Gauteng. The
National Conference is the supreme ruling and controlling body of the
ANC and shall be comprised of at least 90% of the delegates drawn
from branches, elected at properly constituted branch general meetings
(BGM). The number of delegates per branch shall be in proportion to
their paid up membership, provided that each branch in good standing
shall be entitled to at least one delegate. The number of delegates
allocated to each province shall be in proportion to the paid up
membership per province.
All National Executive Committee (NEC) members shall attend, ex-
officio, as full participants in and as delegates to the Conference. The
remainder of voting delegates shall be allocated to members of the
Provincial Executive Committees (PEC), and the Leagues. An allocation
for non-voting delegates will also be made.
The National Conference is called every 5 years by the African National
Congress to:
Decide and determine the policy, programme and constitution of the
ANC
Receive and decide on reports of the NEC including the Presidential
Address, the Organizational Report delivered by the Secretary General,
the Financial Report delivered by the Treasurer General and a report on
the work of the Leagues
Exercise the right to review, rectify, alter or rescind any decision taken
by any structure, committee or Officials of the ANC
Elect the National Officials and additional members of the National
Executive Committee
The meeting of the NEC held in January 2017 adopted a roadmap
towards the 54th National Conference. In terms of the roadmap, we
would, amongst others, convene the National Policy Conference (NPC)
which was held in June, conduct membership audits and thereafter
branches would hold BGMs as part of final preparations toward the
National Conference.
A minimum threshold of 70 percent of branches in good standing must
pass the audit in order for the National Conference to be convened. The
audit has now been completed in 6 of the 9 provinces being Gauteng,
Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, Free State and the Northern Cape.
We are still to complete the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and parts of
KwaZulu Natal.
All branches that have passed the audit, as per the audit report sent to
provinces, may now commence with Branch General Meetings (BGM) or
Branch Annual General Meetings (BAGM). The Regional Executive
Committee (REC) will preside over the BGMs. Members of Parliament
(MP) and Members of Provincial Legislatures will be deployed by the
National Office to all BGMs as observers.
The BGM’s must do the following:
Further discuss and consolidate policy proposals arising from the NPC to
concretize their branch positions towards the 54th National Conference
Nominate branch delegates as per their allocation to attend as full
participants the conference
Nominate candidates to serve as National Officials and additional
members of the National Executive Committee (NEC)
Branches are encouraged to reflect gender parity in their
representation to National Conference.
In line with the 2015 National General Council (NGC) resolution to
outlaw slates and reaffirm the role of the branch as the basic unit of
the ANC, every effort shall be made to ensure that branch nominations
are not tempered with and that the will of the branches is reflected
and respected.
Rule 12.7 of the Constitution of the ANC enjoins us that nominations for
the National Officials as well as additional members of the National
Executive Committee shall be proposed by provinces. Branch nominations
will therefore be consolidated into a provincial position reflecting and
respecting the will of the branches. This means that nominations from
branches will be counted as received and, with no additional
interference by the province, reflect the position of the province
In the next week, proposals for consideration for constitutional
amendments will be circulated to branches. In line with Rule 28 of the
ANC Constitution, a minimum of two-thirds of voting delegates at
conference is required to pass any constitutional amendment.
National Conference will deliberate and decide on any constitutional
amendment affecting the election of leadership before elections take
place at conference. Branches therefore must now conduct all
nominations in line with the Constitution as amended and adopted by
the 53rd National Conference.
The ANC directs all its structures to ensure that the business of the
BGMs is conducted in an environment that is free from intimidation and
intolerance. Harsh action will be taken against any form of ill-discipline
and the ANC will not hesitate to speedily act to curb undemocratic and
disruptive tendencies.
This 54th National Conference must be solely concerned with uniting the
ANC and coming up with practical and urgent action to deal with the
problems of the people, being landlessness, unemployment, poverty and
inequality. In this regard the ANC welcomes the release of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the 2nd quarter which shows a
2.5% growth; pulling the country out of the technical recession. This
growth has largely been attributed to the growth in primary industries,
being, in the main, agriculture and mining.
While we are making some improvements, much more still remains to be
done. The National Conference must be seized with this work of
advancing the strides we have made to improve the lives of our people.
We must build on the foundation laid and prove the lies in the
statements made by, amongst others, the President of the Republic of
Zimbabwe, Comrade Robert Mugabe, that the policies of the ANC have
made “black South Africans paupers”.
Independent research stands as proof of the work that has been done
to create a better life for the majority in South Africa. This has been
done in a responsible manner that has not brought our economy to its
knees in pursuit of adventurism and populism. Our successes and
challenges have been an outcome of the progressive, collective policy
positions of the ANC and not individual leaders. The attack on the
person and legacy of Comrade Mandela by Comrade Mugabe is
unwarranted and extremely unfortunate. We must steadily and surely
work to realize our aspirations as encapsulated in the National
Development Plan.
The African National Congress once again expresses its most sincere
condolences to the family of Comrade Sindiso Magaqa, especially his
mother, his wife Gugu and their three children on the loss of so fearless
and courageous a revolutionary fighter. We condemn in the harshest
possible terms the ongoing spate of political assassinations in the
province of KwaZulu-Natal and call for the speedy conclusion of the
Moerane Commission into this matter. Law enforcement agencies must
act and act now to apprehend the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
The loss of the life of Comrade Magaqa and many other comrades in
that province must not be in vain.
ENDS
Issued by
Gwede Mantashe
Secretary General
African National Congress
Enquiries
Z**i Kodwa 082 330 4910
