As I understand the election of delegates to the national conference happens at branch level. A delegate, although having being elected based on his/her support for a particular vote at the national conference is not bound to vote accordingly. So you have this peculiar situation that a delegate can vote any which way, and off course this is where envelopes with money and access to patronage are the  currency. A PEC does not have direct say in the election of delegates. However the PEC, and particularly the chair, have a lot of informal influence by way of patronage, such as both political and employment positions as well as tender allocations at provincial and local government level. The whole system is open to manipulation and corruption. For instance to be placed on the proportional list for municipal election, which is determined at provincial level, you need to toe the provincial line when voting at branch level. So the PEC structure have its power in the ability to deploy cadres.