National Executive Committee of the African National Congress
It serves as the primary executive organ responsible for leading and governing the ANC, directing the party's policies, strategies, and overall operations.
[2] In recent years, however, members of the NEC are elected by secret ballot at the ANC's national conference under clear rules.
Gender parity remains a condition at the provincial level, and women nominees are upgraded on the list if necessary to meet it.
[10][11] This attitude is encapsulated, and promoted, in a discussion paper adopted by the National Working Committee in 2001 and reviewed in 2021,[12] titled Through the Eye of a Needle?
The paper warns that "electoral processes" should not "tear the movement apart," and thatit is a matter of profound cultural practice within the ANC that individuals do not promote or canvass for themselves.
[13]In 1969, while based primarily in Tanzania, the NEC established the Revolutionary Council, which focused on both political and military aspects of the internal anti-apartheid struggle.
[2] Notably, the Revolutionary Council included several leaders of the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) – this in a period in which the NEC was limited to blacks ("Africans") only, while MK leadership (and thus the council) included several whites, Indians, and coloureds, especially from the Communist Party.
[2] The Revolutionary Council was chaired by ANC president Oliver Tambo throughout its lifespan, and other members included (with approximate dates): From around 1976, there was also a Revolutionary Council structure in London, chaired by Yusuf Dadoo and including Jack Hodgson, Ronnie Kasrils, Aziz Pahad, Reg September, and Solly Smith.
[2] Soon after each national conference, the newly constituted NEC appoints – at least in recent years, by election[14] – a smaller National Working Committee (NWC), which implements NEC decisions and oversees the daily business of the ANC, including in the provincial branches and in Parliament.
In addition to the Top Seven, the members are:[16] The National List Committee reports to, and is appointed annually by, the NEC.
[1] The committee was established following amendments to the ANC constitution by the 50th National Conference in 1997, prior to which the parliamentary selection process had been less centralised.
[2] As indicated below, the NEC voted to co-opt five additional members after 1991, in order to fill vacancies arising from deaths and resignations.
Well represented are former Robben Island prisoners, as well as trade unionists and other former leaders of internal anti-apartheid structures, such as the United Democratic Front, who joined the ANC following its unbanning and return to South Africa.
[22] Four additional unelected members were coopted onto the NEC after 1994, to fill vacancies arising from resignations and deaths.
[27][28] After 2007, three members died and six resigned (two to defect to the newly founded Congress of the People); only three of those vacancies were filled by co-opting replacements.
