ANC conference will be moment of great significance – Ramaphosa

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday that the ANC national elective conference would be a moment of great significance for the governing party and the country.

“It will demonstrate the ANC’s internal democratic processes at work and affirm the commitment of ANC members to renewal, unity and rebuilding our organisation,” Ramaphosa said.

He made the statement at the closing address of the national executive committee (NEC) meeting which ended yesterday.

Ramaphosa also said the NEC welcomed the report on preparations for the 55th national conference, which will be held from December 16 to 20.

At the meeting, several NEC members raised the issue of the robbery at his Phala Phala game farm, calling on Ramaphosa to step aside over the weight of the allegations against him, including fraud and money laundering.

This had prompted Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya to insist that Ramaphosa would only “step aside” once he had been criminally charged.

“The president has not been charged with any crime. There are investigations. The presumption of innocent until guilty remains. Should the president be charged, he will gladly step aside,“Magwenya said.

Closing the NEC meeting yesterday, Ramaphosa thanked ANC members who elected branch voting delegates for the party’s elective conference.

He noted that some branches took time to discuss substantive issues that will be discussed at the conference and in coming weeks.

A number of branches would continue to discuss all substantive issues, including organisational renewal, constitutional amendments and a programme of transformation.

Ramaphosa said the outgoing NEC would need to report to the national conference on the mandate they had been given five years ago.

“In our report we will reflect that, while this NEC has had to confront serious challenges, we can point to several achievements and progress in a number of areas. At the same time, we will need to acknowledge our shortcomings and failings.

“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 renewal,” he said.

He said their task was to ensure they had a successful conference that took forward the democratic revolution and rebuilt the ANC as an effective agent of foundational social transformation.