By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) delegates met virtually at venues in their provinces to adopt final resolutions from the commissions held at the conference in December 2022.
The party has vowed to conclude the business of conference before its January 8 celebrations on Sunday in Bloemfontein, Free State.
Meeting hubs in eight provinces have been created and will be linked up to the main venue in Bloemfontein.
Members of the national executive committee (NEC), the leagues, alliance partners and the Free State delegation will be hosted at Bloemfontein’s Imvelo Safari Lodge and Conference Centre.
The conference is expected to conclude with the following:
- Report on strategy and tactics, organisational renewal
- Finances and sustainability
- Reports from commission on governance and transformation
- Report on constitutional amendments
The ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said the party must earn the trust of South Africans as he reopened the party’s conference.
“Welcome to all of you as delegates to the second part of this conference, the 55th national conference of the glorious movement,” Ramaphosa said to the party’s leadership and delegates gathered at the Imvelo Safari Lodge, outside Bloemfontein.
Ramaphosa said the conference would receive reports from the ANC’s commissions, adopt their resolutions, as well as adopt a conference statement.
He told the delegates that this work was an important responsibility, as it would have a far-reaching impact on the ANC and the country.
Ramaphosa said the decisions taken on Thursday would determine whether the party could reverse its organisational and electoral decline, and whether it could continue on a path of renewal.
South Africans were looking at the conference for solutions to the crises facing the country, he said, adding that while they could not complete their conference last month, “those five days in December” were among the most important days in the party’s history, as it committed itself to renewal and to eradicate factionalism.
He claimed delegates had taken a “strong stance” against corruption.
Ramaphosa said delegates had made it clear that they must proceed with greater urgency and purpose to address the country’s challenges.
He said although it could be the first time that the national conference was extended, it has happened with provincial conferences before.
“Time is always our enemy, we didn’t have the time. We wanted to do things perfectly but the registration process took longer than it should. And we also allowed members to talk at great length about credentials – which was good because it was democracy in action and it enabled us to agree to hold the conference in two stages.
“The policies have, to a large extent, been crafted, the second stage of the conference is going to finalise that. The declaration is almost in its final draft, including the January 8 Statement,” he said.
ANC resumes 55th National Conference,watch live in the video below:
Video Courtesy of SABC.