Winning ANC candidate must not be linked to policy shift: Godongwana

The candidate elected at the ANC's national conference should not be linked to a shift in policy‚ the party's economic transformation subcommittee chairman‚ Enoch Godongwana‚ said on Thursday.

He said the party was at pains to delink the two.

Godongwana was briefing financial reporters ahead of the national conference due to keen interest in it from the local business community and international investors.

He was speaking as leaders remained locked in a special national executive committee meeting‚ over last minute preparations for the 54th national conference kicking off on Saturday.

Godongwana's comments on policy being linked to leadership come despite the different factions - those supporting deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma - having different ideas when it comes to economic transformation policies.

These include issues of land redistribution and the ownership of the SA Reserve Bank. Godongwana said there was consensus on the institutional and policy independence of the SARB.

"No one is contesting that‚" he said.

"Monetary policy is safe from political manipulation."

There was a misconception that a change of ownership would have an effect on policy.

On land‚ he said no one could deny that land redistribution had been painfully slow and there needed to be radical transformation. Godongwana said the success of the national conference would be achieved through two things - keys steps to build confidence in the economy and key structural reforms.

- BusinessLIVE