ANC defends plan to charge media for conference coverage
The ANC has defended its plans to charge the media a fee to report on the party's upcoming elective conference.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe says the packages will service the desires and the needs of the various media houses.
"Basically, the resources brought by these packages are meant to service the desires and needs of these media houses.
"So creating this media packages then allows us to create the kind of space and comfort that the media houses will require."
Over 4000 delegates are expected to descend onto Nasrec, south of Johannesburg in December.
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The conference will see the election of a new ANC president and leadership.
The highly-anticipated conference is expected to draw media coverage from around the world.
Mabe says at least 500 media houses have so far registered for the conference.
"As of today, more than 500, inclusive of journalists and media houses, want to be accredited and accommodated. If you do not put a mechanism to manage this access and what you can provide to fulfil the requirements of these media houses with a shoestring budget, you are not going to be able to meet that."
The conference is set to begin on 16 December.
