Limpopo nominates Motlanthe for ANC president

06 December 2012 - 13:21 By Sapa
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Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. File photo.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. File photo.
Image: Alon Skuy

The Limpopo ANC nominated Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe for the ANC presidency at its provincial conference on Thursday.

Motlanthe won with 268 votes, while President Jacob Zuma secured seven.

A small group of delegates chanted in celebration: "We don't like Zuma, he fired ANCYL [ANC Youth League] president Julius Malema".

Malema hails from Seshego in Limpopo.

Current ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa was nominated for the deputy presidency and Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula to take over from Gwede Mantashe as secretary general.

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale was nominated for treasurer, North West premier Thandi Modise for national chairwoman and Thenjiwe Mtintso -- a former deputy secretary for the ANC -- was again nominated for that position.

The media was told to leave the conference shortly after the nominations were announced.

Supporters of Motlanthe started the nomination conference in Polokwane on Thursday morning, after a rival group walked out claiming bogus delegates had been deployed to vote.

Zuma supporters walked out just after 6am and were not participating in the nomination process to elect the preferred top six candidates.

Zuma supporters claimed the conference did not verify the credibility of delegates.

Some delegates, who did not want to be named, complained that when they went to register, they discovered that unknown delegates had signed under their names and collected accreditation.

The conference was delayed on Wednesday because of a meeting between national executive committee [NEC] members and provincial executive members over lingering disputes.

On Wednesday evening, two men were arrested when people tried to force their way into the ANC's nomination conference, Limpopo police said. The conference was postponed on Friday night when a group wearing T-shirts with President Jacob Zuma's face printed on them disrupted proceedings, forcing delegates to flee the venue, spokesman Makonde Mathivha said at the time.

The ANC's NEC decided on Monday to allow Limpopo, along with the Western Cape more time to conclude their nomination conferences.

The Western Cape ANC also nominated Motlanthe on Thursday morning.

The official deadline for the provincial nominations was originally November 30.

The provincial nomination conference allows ANC members to nominate their preferred candidates for the party's leadership, to be elected at the national conference in Mangaung later this month.

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