The African National Congress is trying to find a suitable date for next year's elections that falls outside the busy Easter holiday period, said secretary general Gwede Mantashe on Monday.

The party has been looking at a range of Wednesdays next year and has considered 25 March and 6 May because these fall outside of the holidays.

"Any other date may be impacted by the school holidays and the Easter weekend," said Mantashe.

The date is ultimately set by the president of the republic.

Much of the focus of this weekend's ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting was on preparations for the elections, he said.

This coming weekend the party would meet to discuss its election manifesto and would include submissions and suggestions from the public.

The manifesto will be launched on 10 and 11 January in the Eastern Cape's Amathole region.

The party's deadline for list candidates from branches is set at 15 December.

Sapa