Drama unfolded at the ANC North West conference this weekend when a group of people overpowered security, stormed the registration centre and made off with accreditation tags belonging to delegates.
These tags, the party later discovered, were cloned and the culprits attempted to use them to gain entry into the conference.
The party apprehended the culprits and has since opened criminal cases.
Fortunately there’s also footage and we hope we will be able to exercise discipline over and above laying criminal charges against those individuals.
— Nomvula Mokonyane, ANC head of organising
The incident was one of many reasons for unprecedented delays and chaos that led to a decision to convene a second leg of the conference in the near future.
ANC head of organising Nomvula Mokonyane confirmed the cloning incident in a media briefing on Sunday.
“There was this issue about tags. There were individuals who invaded the registration centre and grabbed our administrators, took away tags and fled. We know those tags because they were supposed to be distributed. Now there has been a readjustment of the delegates,” Mokonyane said.
“Fortunately there’s also footage and we hope that we will be able to exercise discipline over and above laying criminal charges against those individuals.”
Mokonyane downplayed the incident, saying the ability to identify the culprits meant the party’s processes were intact.
Head of NEC deployees in the province Obed Bapela said it was a concern that such ill discipline in the party had now escalated to criminal conduct.
The party was not able to give further details as the matter was still being investigated.
The North West conference, marred by a raft of delays, will not conclude its business and is expected to continue at a later date.
The second round of the conference is expected to deal with the delivery and adoption of the reports on the state of the organisation and its finances.
Gauteng was also forced to hold its conference over two weekends.
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