- Allies of President Cyril Ramaphosa remain angry at the taunts the president suffered while trying to deliver a political briefing at the ANC conference.
- Outgoing ANC national executive committee member Derek Hanekom believes former president Jacob Zuma contributed to the disruptions with his late arrival.
- Hanekom says the ANC should charge Zuma for his public comments on Ramaphosa.
The ANC’s national executive committee should discipline and indict former President Jacob Zuma for lack of discipline related to his public comments on President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This was the view of outgoing ANC national executive committee member Derek Hanekom, who described Zuma’s late arrival at the conference on Friday as likely deliberate.
Zuma entered while Ramaphosa was reading his political report.
The late arrival caused much upset as ANC KwaZulu-Natal delegates cheered and praised his appearance.
Ramaphosa had to raise his voice to be heard. It took the intervention of ANC KwaZulu-Natal leaders to calm down the members.
In an interview with News24 on Saturday in Nasrec, Hanekom said Zuma’s actions on Friday could not be seen as a coincidence.
He said Zuma should be charged by the newly elected national executive committee (NEC) for bad discipline. Hanekom believes that the comments made by Zuma in public, together with his late arrival at the conference on Friday, showed that he had been an undisciplined member of the ANC.
READ | Ramaphosa gives Zuma until Monday to withdraw the private accusation
“An upsetting moment was when former President Jacob Zuma walked in just as the President was starting to deliver his report. It was very disrespectful, and I am of the opinion that I have no evidence or proof. I don’t think it was a coincidence and it was extremely disrespectful, and I think this, together with his statements, constitutes acts of bad discipline,” Hanekom told News24 on the sidelines of the ANC conference in Nasrec.
“I think he should face charges, and I think the incoming NEC should charge him, and he should appear before the disciplinary committee,” Hanekom added.
Zuma has continually attacked Ramaphosa at public meetings he has attended in recent weeks.
Hanekom is not the only Ramaphosa ally to express such strong views against Zuma, and the taunts witnessed during the opening speech.
Another ANC NEC, Mmamoloko Kubayi, said the delegates who mocked Ramaphosa were not only disrespecting him but also the ANC position.
She told News24 that if delegates were still unhappy with the president’s leadership, they should express it through the ballot box.
She said:
We are here at the conference, and the best way to show your displeasure or whatever you have against President Cyril Ramaphosa is through the vote and not to disturb or damage the image of the ANC.
According to Kubayi, the ANC is an organization that must be protected at all costs.
“When they [the delegates mainly from KZN who tried to disrupt Ramaphosa] they did what they did, it happened in front of the national and international media. They did not challenge, therefore, the image of the president but that of the party.
ANC Eastern Cape Chairman Oscar Mabuyane shared similar sentiments.
He said that Ramaphosa and the ANC position were not respected.
READ | Ramaphosa gives Zuma until Monday to withdraw the private accusation
“I think they were disrespecting the ANC, not just the president,” Mabuyane said.
He added that the ANC had had similar incidents in the past with scandals involving presidents, but those former leaders were never treated in the same way as Ramaphosa was on Friday.
“We had situations like this with former presidents, but we never disrespected them. That has escalated to a level of disrespect for the ANC, which was very unfortunate and the lowest point in the ANC,” Mabunaye said.
Ramaphosa, closing his political report, commented on what he believed was necessary for the ANC to renew itself, but said this could not be done as long as members were talking to each other and refusing to participate.
