Still time for ANC to self-correct: Mantashe

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe says the party's December elective conference will be "an important milestone in the rectification of all the mistakes which the ANC has committed".

Mantashe spoke to the media after addressing the ANC Western Cape provincial general council yesterday afternoon.

The council convened to consolidate branch nominations for the elective conference next month where delegates are expected to choose from seven candidates in the running to succeed President Jacob Zuma as party leader.

Addressing about 300 ANC delegates at the Fountains Hotel in Cape Town, Mantashe called on members to make their nominations with "consciousness" of the fact that the public had started viewing the ANC as being beset by "corruption and nepotism".

"We must not be in denial, state capture is a reality. There are some ANC members who say it's not true," Mantashe said.

"We are in a time when money is used to buy delegates. A vote all of a sudden is not a function of consciousness but a function of who offers the highest bid. Delegates must be mindful [of the fact that] the ANC cannot be sold to the highest bidder," he said.

"If you sell the ANC now, you are going to sit with that ANC for the next five years," said Mantashe.

He said the biggest challenge facing the ANC now was the damaged image and reputation of the organisation as it approaches its 106th year of existence.

"When the ANC is seen as equal to corruption, looting and nepotism ... As we nominate leaders we must know that society must see us as beginning to put an effort to correct that reputation," he said.