KZN ANC forced to recount its votes – and NDZ scores

05 December 2017 - 12:50 By Nathi Olifant
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Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma makes a surprise visit to the ANC PGC in Durban on 5 December 2017 after being nominated for the party's presidency.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma makes a surprise visit to the ANC PGC in Durban on 5 December 2017 after being nominated for the party's presidency.
Image: Jackie Clausen

The ANC's internal election agency was on Tuesday forced to conduct a recount of votes‚ after numbers did not add up in the KwaZulu-Natal structures’ nomination of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for party president ahead of closest rival Cyril Ramaphosa the evening before.

Tuesday's recount did not ultimately change the outcome – in fact‚ it pushed Dlamini-Zuma’s numbers up slightly and decreased Ramaphosa’s tally.

On Monday evening‚ Dlamini-Zuma emerged as KZN’s preferred presidential candidate with 433 nominations to Ramaphosa’s 193. But after the overnight recount – following a complaint from regional secretaries – Dlamini-Zuma’s nominations shot to 454 and Ramaphosa‚ who lost two nominations‚ was down to 191.

For the deputy president position‚ Mpumalanga ANC chairperson David Mabuza’s numbers increased from 434 to 449; while rival Zweli Mkhize’s tally shot from 59 to 64‚ and Naledi Pandor lost two nominations and was down to 51.

Despite another tally of the votes at the KwaZulu-Natal provincial general council on Tuesday, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma still came out ahead as the preferred candidate for the ANC presidency. This ...

For the position of national chairperson‚ Nathi Mthethwa was nominated by 358 branches on Monday‚ but after the recount his tally rose to 371 – while current ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe’s 190 branches nominations remained unchanged.

For the position of secretary-general‚ Free State chairperson Ace Magashule increased his numbers from 410 to 427 branch nominations. Senzo Mchunu remained on 192.

Deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte was nominated by 357 branches‚ although that number shot to 372 after the recount‚ while Cosatu's second deputy president‚ Zingiswa Losi‚ increased hers by two branch nominations from 111 to 113.

Nomvula Mokonyane was nominated by 289 branches on Monday‚ but also benefitted from the recount‚ raising her tally to 302. Paul Mashatile remained on 188 for the position of treasurer-general.

The need for a recount was brought to the fore by ANCYL provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo‚ who complained on Monday evening following the announcement that the figures had not been verified. The PGC agreed with him‚ and the agency was alerted to this discrepancy by regional secretaries – forcing the recount and addition of those votes that had been left out.

ANC deputy chair Willies Mchunu said that the opportunity needed to be given to the election agency to explain itself.

“This verification had to be done so that the PGC was not thrown into doubt about its authenticity. It was done so that the process has integrity and does not impact on the national conference‚” said Mchunu. “If we failed with this process‚ we were going to be judged harshly.”

Bontle Mpakanyane of The Elexions Agency conceded an oversight – especially with regard to the 17 nomination booklets that were found torn at Moses Mabhida region in Pietermaritzburg.

A PEC member said they will be reporting the incident to Mantashe‚ and that they would not let the issue drop until properly investigated by Luthuli House.

A total of 5‚240 delegates will be able to vote by secret ballot for the ANC’s next leaders.

This total is made up of delegates from the nine provinces‚ the youth‚ women’s and veterans’ leagues‚ the NEC and nine provincial executive committees.

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