African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Fikile Mbalula has urged delegates at the party’s 9th Western Cape Provincial Conference taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre to vote for leadership candidates they trust.

The conference began this morning following several hours of delays on Friday.

Some 700 delegates are attending the conference and will vote to elect a new provincial structure after several years under interim leadership.

Mbalula says delegates must think carefully when voting for the new leadership.

“You must then go for the best in your ranks that you know. They say in the organisation, “you rise through the eyes of your peers”. You don’t just drop from nowhere and then you ask the question, “who did you elect?” Because you elect the person that you know. The people you have worked with, so that tomorrow you are not caught by surprise. Surprises are a problem comrades and a very dangerous package in the long term.”

Mbalula has acknowledged that the party has had a difficult few years in the province, and has thanked the Interim Provincial Committee for holding the fort in the absence of official leadership.

“Under very difficult circumstances, we have arrived at this conference in the Western Cape which has taken us more than five years. We have had changes in the leadership of the IPC. An IPC is an IPC and it has a lifespan, it doesn’t exist forever. I want to thank these comrades of the IPC, old and young, for holding the fort under very difficult circumstances.”

ANC Western Cape 9th Provincial Conference I SG Fikile Mbalula addresses delegates:

The conference was postponed yesterday due to late registrations, and the unauthorized occupation of hotel rooms by non-delegates.

The spokesperson for the ANC in the province, Sifiso Mtsweni, says all the logistical and accreditation issues for the conference have finally been sorted out.

Repeated calls have been made at the conference for delegates not to be controlled by money in the election of their leaders.

Source: SABC News