FoIt’s about politics, positioning and power. And the step-aside rule is set to take centre stage as the policy proxy battle when the governing ANC meets for its policy conference, which begins on Friday. Marianne Merten reports.

At its national policy conference this week, the party will also hear proposals by the Women’s League for the chemical castration of sex offenders to be put back on the agenda. Ferial Haffajee reports.

The National Policy Conference of the ANC will take place on Friday and Saturday at Nasrec in Johannesburg, where party members from around the country will discuss key issues such as the party’s step-aside rule. The ANC has been divided on this rule, with some saying it should be scrapped. Queenin Masuabi reports.

The ANC does not simply want to govern South Africa. It wants to be “the leader of society”, to spearhead a “moral regeneration”, and to fight back against “social decadence”. These are some of the aims contained in the policy papers tabled for discussion ahead of the ANC’s upcoming national policy conference, Rebecca Davis writes.

Despite seats being advertised from R5,000 to R20,000 the gala dinner was almost cancelled through a lack of interest, writes Carien du Plessis.

While the ANC’s policy conference in late June this year is officially about the battle of policy ideas, there are strong indications already that the power contest(s) will overshadow debates around ideology and delivery. And yet, the policy documents published by the party ahead of its conference are important, as they give an indication of what officially the future direction of the party could be, writes Stephen Grootes.

The governing party’s policy documents reveal its shortcomings since 2017, and what it will need to do to revive the country’s ailing economy. The ANC wants to change its cadre deployment policy and accelerate its renewal project. The party’s next policy conference is due to take place in July. Queenin Masuabi reports.

It appears that this conference may be very similar to previous ANC policy conferences, where most discussions are really a proxy for the leadership contest to come. For President Cyril Ramaphosa, this poses serious risks as there are indications that his signature political achievement, the adoption of the “step-aside” rule, could be unpopular with the people in the room and even overturned, writes Stephen Grootes.

The analysis of ANC governance failings — from slipping electoral support to ‘a loss of confidence in the ANC as a leader of society’ — emerges crisply from the legislature and governance and other policy discussion documents. The solutions, not so much, writes Marianne Merten.