By Carol Paton

Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa has withdrawn his candidacy for the ANC’s national executive committee because “I decided that this is an NEC that I don’t want to be part of.” Shilowa said that it was not that he didn’t accept the legitimacy of the new NEC, but that certain events in the nomination process on the conference floor last night had made up his mind for him.

These were the facts that the newly elected officials of the ANC – particularly the new Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe – had ignored certain irregularities in the process. 

According to the ANC constitution there are two ways in which nominations for the NEC are made. The first is through provincial nominations, a process which occurred three weeks before the conference. The second is through nominations from the floor. The latter process took place last night.  

 In terms of the rules, when additional nominations are made from the floor a maximum of two people can be nominated from each province. But last night, two additional candidates claimed to be from Mpumalanga and Limpopo respectively when in fact they are members in Gauteng and a third from Gauteng was unable to say where he was a member.  

Although Motlanthe and Mantashe knew the above to untrue, Shilowa says they did nothing to correct the fraud. “I would have left my name on the ballot and waited for the results. But when the leadership sitting up there knows (these things) and says nothing, it’s shocking,” he said. 

However, Shilowa says that the straw that broke the camel’s back and finally made his mind up was when the CD playing liberation songs in the background was on several occasions interrupted by the a recording of the Zuma anthem Awulethu Umshini Wam’.  “I decided I didn’t want to be a part of this NEC and I withdrew.” 

However, critics of Shilowa from the Zuma camp said that the Gauteng premier had withdrawn himself from the ballot because his province had indicated that they did not support his nomination and would not be voting for him.