Africa-Press – South-Africa. The ANC is working frantically behind the scenes to avert a full-blown staff protest that could derail its policy conference, which started on Friday morning.
Speaking to News24 at the Nasrec Convention Centre, coordinator in the ANC secretary-general’s office Gwen Ramokgopa said most of the staff’s June salaries had been paid and that their July salaries were still outstanding.
“Since Monday, I can confirm that part of the funds set aside for the policy conference was used to pay the cost of that salaries instead.
Why ANC is proportionately allocating the same time for all discussions at policy conference
“By yesterday (Thursday), there was a process of beginning to pay the salaries. They were 20 or so that were still outstanding, and the rest were paid the June salaries,” Ramokgopa said.
She added that treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said “part of the proceeds from Wednesday’s gala fundraising would be used to pay most of the staff”.
While the staff protests cast the policy conference in a bad light, Ramokgopa said, the party respected “staff’s right to protest”.
She added:
Beyond the protesting staff who are expected to be joined by members of the youth league on Friday, the ANC is also battling conference delays linked to the finalisation of credentials.
An optimistic Ramokgopa said, “The steering committee is meeting as it is receiving the final credentials”.
“It has received most of the provinces, if not all, and most of the delegates [registered] by [last] night. We are ready to go in terms of those that have registered, and we also have speakers lined up, and the hall is ready,” said Ramokgopa.
However, as a result of the disputed credentials, the ANC did not proceed with a media briefing that was scheduled for 07:00.
Q&A | Mmamoloko Kubayi on Eskom 2.0, De Ruyter, energy and a new model for SOEs
More differences in opinion are expected to come out when the conference officially kicks off.
Ramokgopa said she expected deliberations to be robust, and that those who have differing views would all given the space to present them.
“I don’t expect any disputes surrounding credentials, but I expect this conference to be robust and vibrant as usual.
“The ANC meetings from branch to national are always very vibrant because members come from different perspectives and things are not that well in our country; the economy is not at its best, although it’s recovering.
Ramokgopa said:
She added that while there were calls for the step aside rule to be scrapped or reviewed, it would not happen at the policy conference.
“We have picked up that there are provinces that would want to revisit [the] step aside [rule]. We will hear them out as to where exactly they want it revisited because, if you remember, that is now a constitutional provision from the 54th national conference, and only the national conference may review it.
“But from the 54th national conference, the ANC and its branches and leaders were very resolute that there will not be any turning back. We will find…issues they are raising and take it from there,” Ramokgopa added.
She said the problem with the call for the scrapping of the policy was that it opened the door for criminally charged people to be elected.
“In the instance of Mpumalanga, eThekwini, and possibly Limpopo, we had a case of people who were criminally charged standing for election and then had to recuse themselves, making those positions redundant.
“The ANC and the NEC (national executive committee) received support on its implementation of the step aside policy…which [is] a national mandate,” Ramokgopa added.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
