Ramaphosa advises ANC KZN members not go to court to challenge conference outcomes
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has advised ANC KZN members to refrain from going court to challenge the results of the 8th provincial elective conference.
"No one should be tempted to go against the will of this conference. Nobody should be tempted to go to court to attempt to challenge the results of this conference," Ramaphosa said.
He was addressing the conference shortly after the results of the top five positions were announced.
The long-awaited conference faced two court challenges, which threatened to prevent it from continuing as planned.
"Those who lost did not lose and those who succeeded did not win, the ANC won. Today we are united. You have resolved on your own to build a strong movement for our people," said Ramaphosa.
He said they were proud that the ANC in KZN had the highest membership in the whole country and it was "powerful".
"Our hope and trust are in the ANC in KZN. Today you have begun a journey to return the ANC to where it belongs," he said.
He asked the members to be cautious of the "challenges" that lay ahead following the conference.
"But with this conference you have established a firm foundation for the road ahead. When our people see us at war with each other they lose hope and tend to turn away from us. We disappoint our people when there's no unity," he said.
Ramaphosa said the KZN conference had done much to restore the hope of the people.
"I applaud you for succeeding to hold this conference against difficult odds including court challenges," he said.
The president said it was now time to put the resolutions of the conference into action.
"We need radical unity and radical renewal as well as personal unity and renewal. Radical unity means that we should be able to have courage to work with people [with whom] we never thought we would work with, people [with whom] we differ," he said.
He reiterated that the ANC was going to "force" leaders to talk to people they "hated".
"We did not choose to work together like this but it's the ANC that put us together. We have a mandate from the ANC. We must be loyal and work with whoever we have been put with. We want this leadership that has been chosen to demonstrate unity," he said.
Ramaphosa said for the renewal of the movement to succeed, branches and members needed to mobilise communities and "resolve the problems that our people confront".
He also urged ANC leaders to end all forms of wrongdoing including corruption and patronage.
"We need to act against anyone who abuses their positions for personal gains."
He urged ANC members to resist any attempts to "drive the wedge" among South Africans regardless of their race and ethnicity.
He said the ANC in the province needed to address racial relations between Africans and Indians, particularly in KZN.
He urged new leaders to drive economic development and to create jobs. He said people were tired of being told about radical economic transformation (RET).
"Now they want to see radical economic transformation (RET) being implemented in the way that will improve the lives of the people as a whole, not just a select few. We're going to make sure that RET does not become a slogan but a reality," he said.
He reiterated that his party would implement the return of the land to the people through the programme of expropriation of land without compensation.
"That is going to happen. The land must be shared among those who own it and among those who work it," he said.
Sihle Zikalala has retained his position as chair of the provincial executive committee (PEC) as he was elected unopposed.
Nomusa Dube-Ncube also retained her position as treasurer as she was also elected unopposed.
Mike Mabuyakhulu beat Willies Mchunu to become the province's deputy chairperson. Mabuyakhulu got 912 votes and Mchunu got 816 votes.
Mdumiseni Ntuli knocked Super Zuma out to take the position of provincial secretary. Ntuli got 951 votes while Zuma got 701 votes.
Sipho Hlomuka beat Mluleki Ndobe and Bongi Sithole-Moloi to be elected as the deputy secretary. Hlomuka got 834 votes while Sithole-Moloi got 767 and Ndobe only got 111 votes.
More than 1770 delegates from across the province voted in the conference, NEC convener Nocawe Mafu told attendees.
KwaZulu-Natal is the ruling party's largest province in terms of membership numbers.
The nomination process of additional members to the PEC is currently underway.
