KZN adjusts in favour of NDZ

NOMINATION NUMBERS: SHE NOW HAS 454, NOT 433

Discrepancies appear to have been caused by nominations coming in late.

Durban

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal amended its branch nomination numbers yesterday after it was found that the verification process was inaccurate. ANC KwaZulu-Natal deputy chairperson Willies Mchunu told over 700 delegates “something went wrong” and that affected the party’s provincial nomination figures which were released on Monday night.

Mchunu was speaking in Durban on the second and final day of the party’s provincial general council meeting.

On Monday night, the province announced that Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former African Union Commission chairperson, received 433 branch nominations compared to 193 for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. But after the amended figures were put out yesterday, Dlamini-Zuma was on 454 and Ramaphosa on 191.

The nominations for David Mabuza for deputy president shifted from 434 on Monday night to 439 yesterday and Naledi Pandor’s nominations for the same position moved from 53 to 51.

Nathi Mthethwa moved from 358 to 371 for the position of national chairperson.

Ace Magashule shifted from 410 to 427 nominations for secretary-general and Senzo Mchunu’s numbers remained the same.

Explaining the discrepancies, Bontle Mpakanyane from the EleXions Agency, which is overseeing the process, said some of the discrepancies appeared to have been caused by nominations coming in late and booklets being placed in incorrect piles.

Some branches were also involved in re-runs and those numbers had to be altered.

Mpakanyane said that the biggest discrepancies came from the Moses Mabhida (Pietermaritzburg area) region where nomination forms had been “torn out” of booklets and were later found in boxes where registers had been submitted.

Mchunu said it was important to check the numbers “so there was no doubt about the authenticity of the figures,” as this would affect the integrity of the process. – ANA