By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his political report in Day one of the elective conference currently underway at Nasrec, but struggled to affirm his leadership.
The conference started seven hours late on Friday following registration hiccups, and is expected to conclude on 20 December.
The delayed registrations and accreditation for delegates had already sent tensions through the roof.
The disruption Ramaphosa’s address came as no surprise to many.
He already received a similar reaction from ANC members in KwaZulu-Natal who heckled and booed him earlier this year when he addressed the provincial conference.
Some of those delegates – loyal to the former president – are at national elective conference. But Zuma effectively campaigned for the ANC president’s address to be disrupted.
Speaking off the cuff as he concluded his speech, Ramaphosa later attempted to tackle the bull by the horns when he told delegates to “stop the heckling and shouting.”
“At this 55th conference, let us exercise discipline, let us demonstrate that we are worthy delegates for our people by sitting here and debating issues,
“Instead of shouting and heckling at each other, let’s be the disciplined members of the ANC,” he said to loud cheers from supporters.
Waving two fingers signalling a second term for the incumbent president, they took to the front singing his praises after concluding his address.
ANC national conference adopts credentials
The ANC national conference adopted the credential report at 22:00 on Saturday after long debate over who should be allowed to vote at the conference.
We understand that the credentials were adopted after a debate over the credentials report resulted in ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe suggesting a vote on the matter.
However, that was not supported and the report was adopted to the applause of delegates in the plenary.
The credentials of an ANC conference determines who is allowed to votes and from which provinces. According to the report, there are 4 426 registered voting delegates at the conference.
However, leaders of delegations objected to the credentials citing a flawed registration process and a misrepresentation of who will be allowed to vote.
The nomination process for the top leadership position is expected to follow.
ANC delegates resolve to create additional deputy secretary-general position
The ANC national conference has resolved to expand the number of party officials from top 6 to 7 with the introduction of the position of a second deputy secretary-general.
The ANC national conference delegates unanimously agreed to the constitutional amendment for the additional position.
Support for the position was pushed by the ANC Women’s League and found traction in other provinces.
Earlier, ANC Women’s League Coordinator Maropene Ramokgopa said they hoped hope one of the positions would be used to monitor the performance of ANC deployees in the government.
Ramokgopa said she was available if she was nominated for the position.
Deadlock between Lamola, Mabuyane over ANC deputy president spot
A last-minute caucus meeting in ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa’s camp has led to a stalemate between two candidates vying to become his deputy.
The deadlock between deputy president hopefuls Oscar Mabuyane and Ronald Lamola comes after both candidates refused to back down on their ambitions.
Lamola is set to have argued that he enjoyed more support across the country, as opposed to Mabuyane, who only received nominations from the Eastern Cape.
Sources with knowledge of discussions said the talks continued late into Friday night, with no resolution over who the would be the deputy president candidate in the Ramaphosa camp.
Insiders acknowledged that the deadlock gives current ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile an advantage, even though his support in KwaZulu-Natal is shaky.
Lamola and Mabuyane are not backing down on their ambitions, despite a warning from a senior Ramaphosa lobbyist that their tiff may cost the president.
Vendors moved away by police outside ANC Conference
ANC-merchandise vendors down the road from Nasrec Expo Centre are unhappy that police officers are making them move their stalls further away from where the ANC conference is taking place.
Initially, vendors applied for permits to sell their goods to delegates inside Nasrec, as at previous conferences. However, conference officials and police officers have denied them access to the expo centre this year.
Vendors were then given permission to set up their stalls at a Sasol petrol station on Nasrec Road by the station’s management.
Zuma must be charged and disciplined by the incoming ANC NEC – Derek Hanekom
Outgoing ANC national executive committee member Derek Hanekom believes former president Jacob Zuma must be disciplined for his comments about President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Hanekom told News24 that Zuma’s decision to walk into the plenary hall at Nasrec while Ramaphosa was reading the political report couldn’t be considered a “coincidence”.
As Zuma entered on the first day of conference, he was welcomed with loud cheers from ANC KwaZulu-Natal delegates. These cheers and praises took place while Ramaphosa was speaking, disrupting his speech.
Hanekom said the manner in which Ramaphosa was treated by delegates was “disrespectful”. He said coupled with Zuma’s recent remarks about Ramaphosa, the former president should be charged and disciplined by the incoming ANC NEC.
‘We cannot support hooligans’: ANC conference disruptors read the riot act by KZN leaders
The Musa Dladla region in KwaZulu-Natal read its members who disrupted President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the ANC conference on Friday.
Ramaphosa’s critics in the party are concerned that the rowdiness would scupper their efforts to replace Ramaphosa as the party’s president with Zweli Mkhize.
Former president Jacob Zuma is from the region and the disruptions stem from his instruction to prevent Ramaphosa from delivering the political report.
“I am not panicking about who comes out on top” – Godongwana
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana kicked off the first event on the second day of the ANC conference at a breakfast with business people and diplomats.
“I am not panicking about who comes out on top,” he told them, reassuring them that both presidential candidates had a sound approach to economic policy.
Godongwana also made brief comments on the economy, saying that while SA faced global headwinds, the ANC had scored a number of own goals, including Eskom, where it had “dropped the ball”.
Godongwana is a candidate for the ANC’s national executive committee, which will be elected later in the week.
FUL questions Yengeni’s claims of ‘expunged’ criminal record
ANC NEC member Tony Yengeni successfully appealed his disqualification from competing at the ANC’s elective conference, on the basis that his old criminal record had been “expunged”.
His expungement certificate has now come under scrutiny.
Freedom Under Law claims the expungement may be invalid and in breach of the rule of the law.
Yengeni was sentenced to four years in prison in 2003 for fraud relating to the arms deal, but only served four months.
This week, the ANC NEC member fought his exclusion from contesting leadership positions, after the party’s electoral committee informed him that he was ineligible to participate because of his criminal conviction.