ANC Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, was on a mission when he delivered the closing remarks at the ANC’s tempestuous Eastern Cape conference on Sunday.
Ramaphosa was not there to sell himself as a candidate for the ANC presidency at its December conference. In fact, he politely chided a group of supporters inside the packed East London ICC for singing a song saying they were ready for a Ramaphosa leadership.
He reminded them that the ANC’s national executive committee had instructed that no divisive songs be sung at conferences and the like, thereby suggesting that he was not there to personally endorse new Provincial Chairperson, Oscar Mabuyane.
Ramaphosa said that the party’s NEC had sent him to the Eastern Cape to deliver the message that violence cannot be used to resolve differences between ANC members nor should they turn to the courts to resolve matters that should be handled internally.
The ANC Deputy President was in Kwazulu Natal working with other NEC members to resolve the crisis in Kwazulu Natal which left many councilors dead.
“I was asked to be here,” Ramaphosa said, to deliver the message that the ANC will never use violence to resolve differences. He said he wanted to visit some of the people who were injured in a brawl in the ICC on Saturday night where chairs were also thrown.
“We must be deeply ashamed about what happened. Violence cannot be used to resolve our problems and differences,” he said.
He also said that the courts should not be used to resolve party differences.
Ramaphosa admitted that the ANC had not acted quickly enough to deal with the issues plaguing the party in Kwazulu Natal adding that the ANC did not want the same problems to be replicated in the Eastern Cape.
He said the new ANC provincial leadership had a big job to “unify” the ANC in the province so that when the December conference rolls around, the ANC can emerge a stronger organization.
“In the end the ANC must always win,” Ramaphosa said.
He said the ANC national executive committee members who were working at the conference will submit a detailed report about the conference, promising that the NEC would work closely with the party in the Eastern Cape to resolve the differences with supporters of former ANC chairperson, Phumulo Masualle, who have now turned to the courts to challenge voting outcome.
“The journey will not be an easy one,” Ramaphosa said to Mabuyane and his new executive, but he said the NEC and National Officials will “be back to work with you” to build the organization together.
