Kgalema Motlanthe’s common sense ANC election rules - great move, 20 years too late?

With the ANC preparing for December’s contest for top leadership positions, there is a clear sense that the results could lead to a major change in the ANC. The elections committee of the party has now published the rules for the elections, which will govern how the campaigns will be run. They make illegal several practices that have become almost ingrained in the ANC since the Polokwane Conference in 2007.

It also means that if the rules are followed, people such as Bathabile Dlamini and Tony Yengeni will not be able to be part of the party’s leadership, even in the national executive committee (NEC). 

The huge question mark that remains is whether the ANC will really be able to enforce these rules or not. If it does enforce them, will it lead to some candidates presenting their opponents as unelectable (by accusing them of violating the election commission’s rules) as a major part of their election strategies?

The Rules for Nomination and Election of NEC Members 2022 document, published by the electoral committee chair, former president Kgalema Motlanthe, has the potential to completely change the way the ANC conducts its elections.

First, there is a huge change to the structure of the election itself. In the past, ANC conferences have seen the election of the top six national officials in one poll.

This is what led to the heart-stopping moments at Polokwane and Nasrec, as people waited to hear who won. It also led to a gasp of surprise when it turned out that delegates had elected both President Cyril Ramaphosa as leader of the party, and Ace Magashule as secretary general.

Now, delegates will not vote for these positions in one go. Rather, the document spells out a process where the leadership elections will be held in three stages.

There will first be an election for the positions of party president, secretary general, national chair and treasurer. Once delegates have voted on that, then there will be a second ballot for the positions of deputy president and deputy secretary general.

This is a big change, suggesting an effort to prevent slates from winning it all. It also means that voters will be voting on the second ballot — say, the position of deputy leader — while already knowing who the leader is.

One of the aims of this is to achieve proper gender parity and representativity in the top six. The other, perhaps more political, aim is to break up the slate system. It means that someone could, perhaps, run for the position of leader and, if they lose that, still run for the position of deputy leader.

This could change the game. It’s likely to lead to much more working around gender and demographic representation within the ANC’s top leadership.

Once that poll is finished, then there will be an election for the 80 members of the NEC.

Again there is a provision that attempts to make sure that at least 40 of those members are women by putting their nominations through first. This appears to be part of what has been a huge movement in the ANC to ensure gender representation on its NEC.

Then there are the other rules around who may contest.

It’s worth quoting the document at length on one particular feature. The electoral committee (EC) says that no one may contest elections for ANC leadership if: 

“They have been found guilty of, or have been charged with unethical or immoral conduct, or any serious crime, or corruption. A serious crime is defined by the EC as a crime that could result in a prison sentence of longer than 6 months. A charge is defined as being charged in a court of law. This rule applies also to members who have been charged with any criminal offences in cases that are still being heard, or where a judgment or sentence is being appealed.”

What could have been?

Back in the real world…

“Any candidate whose campaign supporters participate in such activities must condemn the actions of their supporters and may be disqualified if they do not make a strong effort to end this behaviour.”

“The full financial record of every campaign must be maintained and submitted to the EC. All campaigns must submit detailed financial reports to the EC. The EC has the right to demand further particulars and to inspect bank statements of candidates, campaigns and campaign workers and to interview members of campaign teams.”