African National Congress' (ANC's) Nomvula Mokonyane believes there was an underhanded motive to see her contested for the deputy secretary-general position as last-minute horse-trading ensured she had a contender in Tina Joemat-Pettersson. 

ANC delegates nominated candidates for the top seven positions on Sunday morning at the party's national conference at Nasrec in Johannesburg. 

Mokonyane, the ANC head of organising, first appeared set to clinch the deputy secretary-general position, but a nomination from the floor of Joemat-Pettersson from her home province of the Northern Cape ensured contestation for the role. 

The position was previously held by Jessie Duarte, who died earlier this year. 

Joemat-Pettersson first appeared to have nominations from delegates in the Northern Cape, but she managed to secure the 25% threshold to get on the ballot. 

Mokonyane's home province, Gauteng, was upset when election officials had prolonged the floor's opening for deputy secretary-general nominations, with delegates approaching the microphones to demand that nominations be closed.

The former minister said she was irritated by the delay, and she believed the attitude of some members was set on ensuring she did not cruise to victory. 

"It was a bit irritating, but as a democrat, I took it as democracy at play, whatever the other motives. That was a revelation that we are far from uniting, 'it was anything but Nomvula'," Mokonyane said. 

The secretary-general's office has been described as being in paralysis for the past three years since the suspension of Ace Magashule and Duarte's death. 

Mokonyane said she could breathe fresh air into the office because of her work as the ANC's head of organising.

She added the office must help tackle the issues faced by the organisation with three disbanded leagues and two provinces that had yet to hold conferences. 

"This conference is going to come out with two SGs [secretary-generals], and that outcome will help reposition the office of the SG, and it will need people who will consolidate the work that we have done. We came to this conference with more branches of the ANC and provinces that had not gone to conference. 

"The SGO must come in quickly and deal with those issues. They remain a liability and indictment that we disband something and fail to rebuild. Part of my capabilities is to come in and rebuild and have an inclusive structure in the Free State and Western Cape and rebuild." 

Mokonyane has been critical of the outgoing national executive committee (NEC).

She said the mocking of President Cyril Ramaphosa, while he delivered the political report, symbolised a leadership that did not listen to its membership. 

"There has been singing throughout here, and one of the things that I take from that matter is we need to appreciate the reasons behind what happened.

"Until the ANC moves away from an iron fist approach of resolving issues and understands why people are angry, we have accepted that the NEC took over responsibility and failed to unite the membership. It is a leadership that is unable to understand the feeling of its membership will face this kind of attack," Mokonyane added.

The ANC will have a second deputy secretary-general position after delegates agreed to amend the party's constitution. 

The role will focus on keeping tabs on deployees in the government and helping with the organisation's administration. 

ANC Women's League coordinator Maropene Ramokgopa was nominated for the role. She is a Ramaphosa ally who was part of the ANC Limpopo provincial executive committee. 

As voting was expected to continue on Sunday afternoon, speculation was rife that Limpopo had abandoned Ramaphosa. 

Ramokgopa told News24 on Sunday the head count was on Ramaphosa's side by a 300-vote margin against Zweli Mkhize.

She said the majority of the Limpopo delegates were still rallying behind Ramaphosa.