The ANC Johannesburg conference held last month has been hit by further controversy, with a losing candidate lodging a formal complaint about how it was run.
Dada Morero, who lost the contest for regional chair to Loyiso Masuku, has written to Gauteng provincial task team co-ordinator Hope Papo and ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, raising concerns about the electoral committee that oversaw the conference. Morero is mayor of Johannesburg.
In the letter dated January 21, Morero says the Gauteng leadership must respond to complaints about how the electoral committee and its members were appointed, as well as how it ran the conference.
“The severity of the alleged transgressions by the election agency necessitates clarification from the provincial task team regarding their appointment process, especially in light of the agency’s conduct, which threatens the integrity of the ANC’s internal democratic processes,” Morero said in the letter.
He further alleges a conflict of interest, claiming a close relationship between the election agency that ran the voting process and Masuku.
According to Morero, the owner of the election agency is an employee of the City of Johannesburg and works under Masuku.
It is particularly troubling that Noluthando White, the owner of the election agency, is currently employed by the City of Johannesburg. Her recruitment was overseen by the then MMC of group corporate and shared services around the period 2019-2021 as part of a group of 130 recruits.
“It is particularly troubling that Noluthando White, the owner of the election agency, is currently employed by the City of Johannesburg. Her recruitment was overseen by the then MMC of group corporate and shared services around the period 2019-2021 as part of a group of 130 recruits. Further, she serves as a media specialist within the MMC’s office,” Morero wrote.
“This letter serves as a formal complaint concerning potential conflicts of interest and possible manipulative practices that require urgent investigation. Clarification is needed from the provincial task team regarding how this company was engaged.”
Morero said the employment history between White and Masuku must be looked at, including whether this relationship was declared before her company was appointed to run the voting process.
“The credibility of the election agency has been severely compromised. It appears that the entire process was orchestrated with a predetermined outcome, as evidenced by the timing of the conference relative to the initial regional roadmap,” Morero wrote.
The key question for the ANC provincial task team was whether the election agency disclosed any conflict of interest or relationships with candidates, particularly in regard to the ownership and management of the agency, he said.
A relative of Noluthando, Nkuli White, who currently holds the directorship of Elections Management And Consulting Agency of Africa (EMCA) which was previously owned by her mother, dismissed the allegations of conflict saying her company was appointed properly.
White told the Sunday Times: “There is no relationship, alliance, or association between the owner of EMCA and Cllr Loyiso Masuku, whether professional, political, or personal. Any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect.”
Further, the owner of EMCA was not involved in the operational management of the company at the time of the Johannesburg ANC Regional Conference, having resigned as a director in September 2021, as reflected on the CIPC register.
“Further, the owner of EMCA was not involved in the operational management of the company at the time of the Johannesburg ANC Regional Conference, having resigned as a director in September 2021, as reflected on the CIPC register.”
She said the allegations that her relative, Noluthando, resigned from the elections agency’s directorship strategically just in time for the Johannesburg conference to hide the alleged conflict with Masuku was false.
“As reflected on the CIPC register, which is publicly accessible and independently verifiable, Ms Lulu White resigned as a Director of EMCA in September 2021, not in June or July, as alleged,” she said.
“Any suggestion that her resignation was strategically timed to conceal a conflict of interest is factually incorrect, unsupported by the public record, and misleading. Such assertions unfairly undermine the integrity of EMCA and will be addressed through appropriate legal channels should they persist.”
Mbalula confirmed receipt of Morero’s letter, saying it had been forwarded to the ANC’s elections commission, chaired by former ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe.
“We received the letter, and we are attending to it and the complaints that are there,” Mbalula said. “I’m not going to single out one issue ... lest we be prejudiced should there be litigation. I can only assure you that the letter has been received and the secretary-general is attending to its contents.”
Morero’s complaint comes weeks after Mbalula wrote to Papo in December, instructing him to hand over all Johannesburg conference-related material to the police with immediate effect. Mbalula said the directive followed a number of complaints received by his office regarding the conference.
Asked to clarify the instruction on the sidelines of the ANC lekgotla on Saturday, Mbalula said police involvement would be limited to safekeeping and not necessarily an investigation.
“There is no police involvement. The police get involved from time to time when we need extra manpower ... [for example] to safeguard the ballots if there is a need for a recount,” he said.
“At the present moment there is no such need. We are attending to the complaints as they have been raised with the secretary-general. Myself and Hope in Gauteng are attending to those.
“There is no issue with regard to the Joburg conference — it did take place, we had deployees there, and like any other process, there are complaints which we are attending to.”
He said no commission of inquiry had been established.
Mbalula said some of the complaints relate to how the electoral committee publicly announced that it had replaced a male member elected in the regional executive committee (REC) with a female to address gender parity.
“The issue of electoral outcome comes as the result of a mishap by the electoral commission, where they made a public pronouncement on the outcome and intervened to address gender parity. The complaint relates to that,” he said.
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