The three-day meeting took a sombre tone, signifying the real possibility that this is the ANC’s last policy conference as governing party, writes msmkokeli.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was ANC secretary-general at the time, stands next to President Nelson Mandela as he holds up a copy of the new SA constitution at its signing in 1996. File photo: ROBBIE BOTHA
The branches are stuck with the reality that they have him because he is the only candidate they can take to the polls for decent returns, even though he fails to deliver a compelling vision. Some quarters in the ANC also want youth unemployment to be declared a crisis. As to what then, nobody bothers to ask!
And before and during the conference, the Ramaphosa camp used various tactics. A meeting organised by Paul Mashatile, the acting secretary-general, on the eve of the summit and attended by chairs from the nine provinces, national chair Gwede Mantashe and Ramaphosa seems to have done the trick. By the time the conference started, the delegates had dropped blatant hostilities and were prepared to engage soberly.
A delegate aligned with the communists placed the CR-RET split of the delegates to about 80% to the Ramaphosa camp. Another sign of the thumping of the RET is how Mantashe, as chair of the plenary session, gave a verbal version of a karate kick to the chest of prominent RET figure Supra Mahumapelo during the discussions. Mahumapelo had moved towards the microphone stand, and Mantashe jumped up to tell him to sit down.
What is clear is that Ramaphosa has no opponent at this stage. That places the tension points around the battle for his deputy.
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