LIVE: Voting for ANC NEC underway
2017-12-19 18:30News24 understands that voting for the ANC's 80 additional national executive committee members is officially underway.
Visit our special report, #ANCVotes, for all the news, analysis and opinions about the ANC’s national elective conference.
SANEF STATEMENT ON TREATMENT OF JOURNALISTS AT 54th ANC ELECTIVE CONFERENCE
Sanef has met with the ANC following what happened to journalist and chair of Sanef's media freedom subcommittee, Sam Mkokeli and many other journalists covering the ANC's elective conference in Nasrec.
Since this afternoon's incident, Sanef has received many complains from reporters who've experienced similar things at the hands of security officials.
These include pictures which have been deleted, a journalist who was punched in the stomach, another journalist with prosthetic legs who was pushed down and female journalists who have reported being inappropriately touched by marshals inside the Plenary hall.?
The meeting was very productive and the ANC has apologised for what happened today.
They will now try and get Mkokeli's accreditation back, after he handed it over to avoid being further manhandled.??
The ANC has requested journalists who experience who've been ill-treated to report all incidents as soon as they happen so that they can attend to them.
The ANC has also pledged to investigate today's matter and speak to security about incidents of inappropriate behaviour and touching by marshals. The ANC has also reported security breaches by journalists.
As Sanef we will continue to ask for the ANC to be more transparent and allow a free flow of information. We are however appealing to our members to respect the security arrangements currently in place - as uncomfortable and undesirable as they may be.
- Issued by SANEF chairperson Mahlatse Mahlase.
UPDATE ON THE ANC'S VOTING PROCESSES:
- The dispute over the 'quarantined' 63 votes was meant to be discussed and debated at the next plenary session, which was due to start 18:00.
- It is unclear though if this will still happen today.
- It is rumoured that the issue will be "dropped", and the results for the top 6 will stand, but this is not official.
-Voting for the 80 additional NEC members meanwhile has officially begun, after nominations were completed on Tuesday night.
- The make-up of the party's NEC will be crucial for a Ramaphosa-led ANC over the next five years, as it is the highest-decision making body in the party between elective conferences, and has the power to recall deployees from positions.
ANC apologises for media treatment
SANEF chairperson Mahlatse Mahlase met with the ANC's communications unit, which is handling media issues at the venue, to raise "a whole host of issues".
"As far as Sam Mkokeli is concerned, they will go back to police to talk about the incident.
"One of the key things they asked for was they'd like reporters, if they do encounter any incident, to report them immediately.
"We've had journalists complain that footage has been removed from their cameras; we had women journalists complain that security marshals, when checking their cards... they touched them inappropriately."
The ANC's DIP unit has treated journalists well, many have said. The problems have arisen during incidents with security and police personnel beyond the delegate fence.
"There was an apology, which was quite important to us, because they said they do not want to make our jobs difficult."
The DIP unit had their own set of restrictions and were trying to work around them as best as possible, she said.
There have also been incidents where journalists genuinely breached security.
"And obviously we would condemn that as SANEF."
They were hopeful Mkokeli would get his accreditation tag back from police.
ANC responds to journalist being manhandled:
"We are actually working on it. Bear with us colleagues. Words cannot express our disappointment," says ANC spokesperson Motalatale Modiba.
"We are on your side and we are working on returning Sam’s tag. Can we be informed where there are incidents to avoid us (sic)?"
Daily Maverick's Marienne Merten says: "And security generally has been nasty, not hard. Journalists have been pushed, hit, that grabbing of access tags to check whatever is certainly uncomfortable for me as a woman journalist..."
"I'm responsible for security as far as media is concerned. I would like to have the name of the journalist so as for me to take it up with... and address the matter, my apologies if media feels security is hard on them."
SANEF chairperson Mahlatse Mahlase said they were on their way to raise the steady outpouring of issues journalists have had with security at the ANC's national conference.
"Yesterday my tag was almost taken away because a provincial leader stopped to talk to me outside the plenary," says another.
UPDATE ON 'MISSING' VOTES:
The issue of the "missing" 63 votes has been referred to the ANC's plenary.
4700+ delegates will argue for whether those 63 votes that were "quarantined" should be added to the final tally.
Those ballots were set aside after the delegates voted, but were allegedly not on the voters' roll.
Defeated secretary general candidate Senzo Mchunu is said to be unhappy with that decision. Those votes could change the winner of that position, having lost by a mere 24 votes.
The ANC's steering committee resolved earlier on Tuesday to put the matter before the plenary to decide.
Plenary will begin at 18:00.
Security has been very strict at the 54th ANC conference.
Earlier, she had said: "An impromptu gathering of journos has just resolved to boycott Cyril's walkabout on his first day in office if ANC insists on the shuttle route. Our levels of gatvolness with this security situation is sky high."
After a 40-minute struggle over the numbers allowed to attend, News24's Jan Gerber overheard one security say: "We don't understand democracy, we just understand security."
Ramaphosa will be available in the PBF breakfast area to chat with the media.
On Monday, former ANC president Jacob Zuma also spoke to the media in the same area, where one of Zuma's associates implicated in the book "The President's keepers", Roy Moodley, was spotted.
