ANC veteran Patricia Hanekom has criticised the conduct of some party members at the national elective conference, describing it as “really inappropriate”.
Hanekom also condemned the poor participation in the conference’s commissions on policy proposals.
“It does not contribute to ensuring that we build a strong, united ANC that focuses attention on renewal and rebuilding, and that we leave here confident of the commitment to restoring the trust of the public in the ANC,” she said.
Hanekom was referring to the heckling of President Cyril Ramaphosa by delegates from KwaZulu-Natal during his address on Friday.
Hanekom said the delayed start of the conference, which began almost eight hours behind schedule, had a knock-on effect on the programme and contributed to the poor attendance at policy commissions.
Delegates had to juggle other issues, voting and attending last-minute caucuses convened by their provincial leaders.
Snuki Zikalala, convenor of the ANC Veterans League task team, said it was “problematic” that the conference spent inadequate time on policy matters.
“In the commission I attended, instead of being 30, we were eight because people had gone to vote, so that was the biggest problem. So we just affirmed policies that were there.”
Zikalala said most of the ANC delegates demonstrated poor political education.
“People, especially branch delegates, only exist for conference and that has to come to an end. There must be political education and discipline, especially among branch members.”
ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane admitted attendance was “poor” at policy commissions.
“We take note that we had poor attendance in some, not all, of the commissions, but there were also submissions that were made on behalf of a province, or on behalf of a sector. The leagues also had their submissions reflected in a different commission,” Mokonyane said.
Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, who chairs parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education, said time was a factor affecting the quality of work done by the policy commissions.
“Can we say it was all delegates, all at the same time? No. Numbers would fluctuate throughout the sessions. Due to time challenges, we had to multitask, having various programmes like voting and commissions taking place at the same time.”
The conference ended on Tuesday without adopting policies on the economy, the energy crisis and other crucial socioeconomic issues.
The adoption of policy resolutions was deferred to January 5, when the conference will resume in a virtual hybrid format.
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