NATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR PREPARATIONS OF CONFERENCES

INTRODUCTION

SANCO held its national conference in December 2008. This conference was held after eight years since 2001. At the time of conference, provinces had different membership systems within each province. Conference resolved to have a unitary membership system.

The NEC resolved that provinces should hold their conferences by July 2009. Those provinces who are not ready should indicate to the NEC stating reasons why they could not hold their conferences. For those provinces, the last day to hold their conferences is 31 December 2009. Given the abovementioned situations surrounding membership system, it is necessary that a process of preparing provinces to hold their conferences should be clearly spelt out, that will result with credible conference outcomes and united social movement in each province.

It is therefore in the interest of the organization to ensure that provinces follow a similar process in preparations for their provincial conferences and therefore expected to communicate to the NEC on their readiness in terms of this process.

PREPARATORY PROCESS

The following steps as enumerated in the table below are to be followed in relation to the state of the organization in the provinces. It should be noted that the Constitution is clear on membership of SANCO.

STEP	ACTIVITY	RESPONSIBILITY	DELEGATION
1.	State of province	NWC	Secretariat
2.	Membership systems within the province	NEC	NWC
3.	Unity meetings where there are parallel structures	NEC	NWC
4.	Collapsing different mem- bership systems into one within the province	NWC	Secretariat
5.	Adoption of an agreed mem- bership in the province	NEC	NWC
6.	Membership audit	NWC	Audit Committee
7.	Adoption of audit report	NEC	NWC
8.	Organising of provincial conferences	NWC	PEC

Below is the narrative process that may not be captured in the tabular form. This seeks to explain and clarify the above steps.

State of Province

The National Working Committee shall establish the state of the organization in the province. This will be a delegated function of the Secretariat that will report to the NWC. Where the province is proclaimed to be affected by parallel structures, the NWC shall deploy at least two NWC members to facilitate unity meetings of membership and leadership will organize provincial conference within eight weeks of the adoption of consolidated membership.

In the event that the province does not have parallel structures, the NWC shall proclaim the province as such.

Membership System

The National Working Committee shall establish the state of membership in use within the province. This activity shall be a delegated function of Secretariat that will report to the NWC. Where the province is proclaimed to be a multi-membership system province, the NWC shall deploy at least two NWC members to facilitate consolidation of the membership systems in use. The consolidation shall include the identification and verifiable characters of these membership systems to enable membership audit process. The consolidated membership system will then be presented to the NWC for adoption for purposes of the provincial conference only.

In the event that the province uses only one membership system, the province shall be proclaimed as such.

Membership Audit

A province that is ready to hold a conference shall be a province that has a combination of the following:-

Provincial Executive Committee
Membership system / Consolidated Membership System
Approved branch membership audit report

The membership audit shall be carried out by an audit committee which shall present its report to the Secretariat for consideration by the NWC. The outcome of the report shall be communicated within 48 hours of the NWC meeting that considered the report. The report format shall take the form herein attached as Annexure A.

Organising of Conference

A province that is ready to hold a conference in terms of item 2.3. herein above, shall organize the conference at a suitable venue and appropriate time for conference delegates to be able to attend. The province shall be responsible for the costs incurred to hold the conference. Appropriate measures shall be taken for security, accommodation, food and transport to ensure a successful conference.

The NWC is obliged to deploy at least two members other than the NEC provincial deployees to oversee the conference. The NWC deployees shall b e expected to submit their report of the conference together with the conference report. The report shall be delivered to the secretariat by the end of business on Monday following the conclusion of the conference. This reporting time shall be strictly complied with for proper administration and safety of records. The Chairperson and Secretary shall ensure that deployees leave the conference with all reports required of the conference.

The following documents shall constitute the report to be attached to the NWC deployees’ report:-

Conference Report
Conference Documents
Conference Resolutions

CONCLUSION

The preparatory process for provincial conference is a transitional procedure to respond to the state of the organization in some provinces and the varying membership systems in some provinces. This process should be carefully managed to avoid abuse. The spirit of this process is to unite the civic movement in our provinces. It is believed that successful implementation of this process will achieve unity and lead to a credible conference.

Maximum discipline and organizational commitment is required in this process. Only the organization should emerge as the winner at the conclusion of this process and not individuals.