Rebellion against Ramaphosa neutralised
JOHANNESBURG - An effort to mount a rebellion against President Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC policy conference has been neutralised.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal appears to have conceded that their primary fight will occur at the December elective conference. A planned protest against Ramaphosa led by Carl Niehaus did not attract any support.
This was the sentiment of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, who were expected to lead any rebellion during the ANC’s policy conference, but who failed to achieve substantive political wins on which opposition to President Cyril Ramaphosa was expected to ride on. The main fight of the conference, repealing the ANC’s step-aside policy, appeared to be moot yesterday.
A bid to attack Pravin Gordhan and Eskom management on the failures of the power utility too was not fully entertained.
And efforts to build opposition on the conference floor were shut down by ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe and were not widely supported. While the newly elected ANC leaders in KwaZulu-Natal remained militant publicly, in the closed commissions, it appeared their lobby was neutralised.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal had the largest delegation to the conference, followed by Limpopo, where they found allies in some of their fights.
But soon, it became manifest that the muted conference was not conducive for a full-blown political rebellion to be launched.
“This conference is not a conference of branches. In December, we will come with branch delegates, and only that conference can decide and vote,” ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Bheki Mtolo, who is fashioned as the spokesperson for the anti-Ramaphosa lobby, told News24.
Meanwhile, a push to protest against Ramaphosa led by fired ANC staffer Carl Niehaus failed to gain support.