Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s opening of the ANC’s elective conference got off to a shaky start as delegates from KwaZulu-Natal threw the kitchen sink at the president, who struggled to maintain order.
Delegates from KZN were relentless in voicing their dissatisfaction with Ramaphosa.
The rowdy group kept shouting “Phala Phala” and “load shedding”.
“We Phala Phala awuphendule, wenzeni uZuma?” the group sang, as many delegates banged on tables.
Ramaphosa’s supporters then also started singing, to counter the president’s opponents.
Former president Jacob Zuma entered the plenary hall and was greeted by mostly KZN delegates.
While this was happening, Ramaphosa was still on the stage, waiting to deliver his political report.
As Zuma walked in, Ramaphosa gave a slight grin.
Later, Ramaphosa, who consistently asked for calm, slightly raised his voice.
Appearing visibly unhappy, Ramaphosa acknowledged Zuma’s presence, along with that of former president Kgalema Motlanthe.
Midway into Ramaphosa’s speech, ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe called for security personnel to come to the front, in an effort to deal with the people interrupting Ramaphosa.
As Ramaphosa spoke, Mantashe pleaded with ANC KZN chairperson Sboniso Duma to handle his delegates.
Duma seemed agitated as he left the stage, while security stood ready to intervene.
ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo looked defeated as delegates from his province continued to disrupt proceedings.
As the mood got calmer, Ramaphosa said there was much they had been able to do, referring to interventions to address the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said there had been measures to put the economy on a sustained growth trajectory.
“We see some green shoots starting to sprout. I do believe there are better days ahead.”
Ramaphosa described the nation’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic as “swift and decisive”.
Added to this, Ramaphosa said the impact of the pandemic could have been far worse if it weren’t for this “decisive” intervention.
He also noted that 2022 marked 25 years since the Constitution came into effect.
“The Constitution remains the foundation of our democratic order,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said:
On the country’s energy crisis, Ramaphosa said: “Apart from the immediate steps to stop state capture at Eskom and rebuild the utility, government has made significant policy changes to enable a more competitive, reliable, cost-effective and sustainable electricity industry.
ROLLING COVERAGE | Ramaphosa urges ANC conference to hold those responsible for state capture to account
“An important part of the work to reverse the effects of state capture is the recovery of funds that were paid illegally or improperly to a number of companies. To date, nearly R3 billion has been recovered by Eskom alone, and a further R5 billion is being claimed in various court processes.”
On the state of the economy, Ramaphosa said that, to date, around R1.14 trillion in investment commitments had been raised, and some R300 billion had already been invested in projects.”
The investment drive was accompanied by a range of structural reforms to make the economy more competitive, efficient and capable of growth.
“These reforms have focused on the network industries of energy, telecommunications, water, railways and ports. The insecurity of electricity supply continues to be one of the greatest impediments to economic recovery,” he said.
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