By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) 55th national conference in Nasrec, south of Johannesburg, has been postponed to 5 January 2023.
Newly elected ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula addressing ANC delegates in plenary, said the national steering committee met earlier on Tuesday to receive a report on how the conference was proceeding.
The start of the five-yearly gathering was delayed by more than six hours due to registration glitches, the finalisation of the credentials report, and the voting procedure.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as ANC president, beating Zweli Mkhize with 2476 votes to 1897 votes.
The congress is expected to resume on 5 January under a hybrid form to complete its business.
“The national conference will continue on a hybrid platform in which delegates will converge at central venues in each province that will be connected to each other virtually.
“The rules adopted by the national conference will continue to apply to the continued session with the necessary modifications as required by the different circumstances.”
The conference delays have also been caused by voting for the ANC’s incoming national executive committee (NEC) – the governing party’s highest decision-making body – and the adoption of the commissions’ reports and resolutions.
“Furthermore, by Tuesday a number of delegates, especially from distant provinces, had started returning home.
“Due to these factors, it was not possible to formally adopt the commissions’ reports and resolutions based on the deliberations of the commissions in plenary,” said Mbalula.
He added: “It must be emphasised the commission meetings did take place and engaged in discussions based on the very thorough processes leading up to and at the sixth national policy conference held in July.”
Mbalula further said the national steering committee’s report highlighted that certain conference matters, such as amendments to the ANC’s constitution, required a two-thirds majority of all delegates to be present and voting.
“It was clear to the steering committee that the national conference would have neither the time nor the required majority to adopt constitutional amendments,” he said.