Following calls by several ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) members to have party president Cyril Ramaphosa removed from his position, the governing party’s leader delivered a closing address on Sunday afternoon that encouraged unity and renewal.

Senior party members including Tony Yengeni were leading the charge for Ramaphosa to step aside because of the scandal surrounding the Phala Phala Forex theft. However, his attempts to get rid of Ramaphosa were quashed by Ramaphosa’s close allies, paving the way for his re-election as the leader of the party for a second term.

During his address at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Soweto, Ramaphosa said the party’s national conference next month would be a moment of great significance for the ANC and the country.

“The conference will demonstrate the agency, internal democratic processes at work and affirm the commitment of ANC members to renew unity and to rebuild our organisation. We also welcome the update report on the web of the renewal commission on the proposed vision and programme of the ANC for the next 10 years,” Ramaphosa said.

The meeting was held ahead of the ANC’s national conference and the political, organisational and financial reports were discussed. The final reports will be delivered to delegates at the conference. 

“We must ensure that our political and organisational reports are frank, critical and comprehensive so that we can empower delegates to develop a programme that takes our movement into a new phase of rebuilding. As this NEC, we are now at the final close of our term.

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“Our task now is to ensure that we have a successful 55th national conference that takes forward the National Democratic Revolution. And rebuilds the ANC as an effective agent of fundamental social transformation. I want to end by thanking all ANC members who were able to execute their tasks, wherever they were deployed, and for showing their commitment to the people,” he said. 

Ramaphosa acknowledged the NEC’s achievements and shortcomings while thanking those who had been important in organising the conference.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Phala Phala set to loom large in ‘heated and robust’ talks at final crunch NEC meet before elective conference” 

“This report will be greatly enriched by the discussions we have had here, and our report will reflect the task this NEC has had to confront serious challenges. We can point to several achievements and progress in several areas. Still, at the same time, we will need to acknowledge our shortcomings and our failures as the NEC as we also point out some of the areas we have really made progress.

The ANC NEC gathering discussed the party’s state of readiness for the national conference where new leadership will be elected. The Electoral Committee has given a presentation on the work it has done so far.

The ANC will hold its conference from 16-20 December at the Nasrec Expo Centre. DM