Johannesburg - Dr Zweli Mkhize’s lobbyists in KwaZulu-Natal say they would ask their Gauteng counterparts to choose one or two candidates to be in the top six with Mkhize as they cannot accept all the three candidates from one province.
Speaking to Independent Media on Thursday, Mkhize's campaign manager Simphiwe Blose said the line-up on Mkhize's slate was not yet final and was to be consolidated and be finalised by later on Thursday.
He said the problem KZN was having was that Gauteng had three candidates but there was no way Mkhize would go to conference on Friday with such a line-up that geographically lacked balance.
Blose said it was not negotiable that Gauteng must drop one or two candidates to make way for other provinces to be represented.
“We are just waiting for all the delegates to arrive and register, then we meet them together with the provincial leadership to consolidate our final top six list but we are clear that we cannot accept three candidates from one province.
“We are expecting Gauteng to either give us or two candidates, not three of them,” said Blose.
During nominations Paul Mashatile was nominated to deputise Mkhize while Nomvula Mokonyane was touted for the secretary-general position. Mzwandile Masina surprisingly emerged from Mkhize's slate for the treasurer-general's position. All of them are from Gauteng.
Mkhize's campaign team's problem is compounded by the fact that another contender for the treasurer-general position is Andile Lungisa from the Eastern Cape. The problem is Mkhize already has Phumulo Masuale from that province who is contesting the secretary-general position.
Blose said if they are going to allow two or more candidates from one province it would be difficult for him to negotiate for support in other provinces as they also need to have their comrades to be included in the senior positions.
Another dilemma for Mkhize's slate was that Mashatile had never endorsed Mkhize at all and even on Wednesday during the Gauteng provincial general council he refused to state whose side he was on, saying he would work with the president that would be elected by the branches at the weekend.
Masina and Mokonyane had previously stated that they were supporting Mkhize for president and had even invited him to address the cadres’ forum in eKurhuleni earlier this month.
In terms of the programme the delegates will nominate additional candidates for all the positions but voting will take place on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, registration of delegates started with glitches following the scan problem which caused a delay on Thursday morning.
KwaZulu-Natal was the first province to register at Johannesburg's University of South Africa campus on Thursday. By midday scores of delegates were still scattered around the campus precinct still waiting for the registration. Delegates who spoke to the Independent Media expressed disappointment for the glitches but said they would wait to ensure that they register.
Daily News