Ramaphosa’s address to hostile ANC KZN a bone of contention among party leaders

• There was a bone of contention regarding whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should give the closing remarks at the KwaZulu-Natal conference. 
• The newly elected leadership wanted newly elected chairperson Sboniso Duma to close the conference. 
• This as Ramaphosa’s allies suffered a political blow when Sihle Zikalala lost the vote.  

The newly elected provincial executive committee of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and national executive committee (NEC) members deployed to the province have been at odds over whether President Cyril Ramaphosa will give the closing remarks at the conference or not on Sunday.

The new chairperson, Sboniso Duma, and secretary Bheki Mtolo were said to be standing firm in that the closing address should be given by the chairperson and not Ramaphosa. 

The pair has campaigned on an anti-Ramaphosa ticket, loyal to former president Jacob Zuma. 

Those who opposed to Ramaphosa’s presence at the end of the conference argued an ANC NEC member should only give the opening remarks as party policy states no one may speak after the ANC president has spoken. 

This as the election results proved to be a political blow for Ramaphosa with Sihle Zikalala’s loss of the chairpersonship. 

Sources close to the discussions that happened even as additional members were being elected on Sunday morning told News24 the stance of the provincial executive was that Duma had to close the conference. 

READ | Clean sweep for ANC faction sympathetic to Zuma in KwaZulu-Natal

Earlier in the morning, there was confusion over whether Ramaphosa would be attending after Duma told the media he had received a call from Ramaphosa congratulating the new leadership. 

He added Ramaphosa had informed him because of other engagements, he would not be able to address the gathering. 

News24 understands Ramaphosa decided to defy calls for him to stay away from the hostile ANC KZN conference. 

ANC head of presidency Sibongile Besani, NEC member Mamoloko Kubayi, and other leaders confirmed Ramaphosa would be attending and giving the closing remarks at the conference on Sunday. 

They said:

Newly elected officials in KZN and the NEC deployees were locked in discussions for hours on Sunday afternoon about how Ramaphosa and Duma’s addresses would be scheduled. 

Ramaphosa’s slate, led by Zikalala, was defeated by Duma’s slate, setting up a tense reception for Ramaphosa. 

Duma won by 930 votes compared to Zikalala’s 665.

The position of deputy chairperson went to Nomagugu Simelane, who defeated Kwazi Mshengu for the position. 

The influential provincial secretary position went to Bheki Mtolo, who defeated former secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli. 

The elected deputy secretary was Siphesihle Hlomuka, while the elected treasurer was Ntuthuko Mahlaba.