ANC to announce top six nominations on Sunday

The ANC will announce the names of the members who have accepted nomination for its top six positions on Sunday.

"The electoral commission has a duty to report to conference first in relation to the top six," African National Congress spokesman Jackson Mthembu told reporters in Bloemfontein on Friday.

"We will tell conference who has accepted and who has not accepted [on Sunday night]."

The ANC's 53rd national congress is being held in Mangaung, in the Free State, from Sunday to Friday.

Mthembu said that during nominations on Sunday night, ANC delegates would be able to nominate, from the floor, candidates who were not already on the list, provided the nomination was supported by 25 percent of the conference.

President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe have both been nominated for the presidency.

On Thursday, Motlanthe's spokesman Thabo Masebe said he had accepted nomination for three positions -- president, deputy president and national executive committee (NEC) member.

Other candidates nominated for deputy president are businessman and NEC member Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale.

Nominations for secretary-general, deputy secretary-general, chairman and treasurer general will also be announced on Sunday.

The conference is being held on the campus of the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein and will start with a political report by Zuma, and an organisation report by secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.