This part of the conference is called ‘exhaustion’
He lies flat on the carpeted floor, out for the count. Men and women in party T-shirts walk around their fallen comrade, a hushed snore the only sign of life.
They all carry a weary look, but are summoning whatever energy is left in their bodies to join the disorganised queues inside the box-sized hall of the Unisa Conference Centre in Ormonde, south of Johannesburg.
This is where the ANC is registering more than 4,000 delegates who will choose the party’s next leader.
The heat inside is unforgiving, no aircon in sight. It is 2.30pm, the conference at the Nasrec exhibition centre, some 7km away, was supposed to have started at 9am with a political address by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
But as ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe told journalists during a walkabout of the conference main hall that morning, you can’t have a conference without delegates.
More than half of them are stuck at the registration venue, queuing for accreditation tags marked “voting delegate”.
Ben, a delegate from the Western Cape, tells me he was at the registration venue for most of Thursday, leaving at 1am on Friday without success. He’s back after a few hours’ sleep and determined to get accredited.
So high are the stakes at this gathering that not even massive disorganisation and a heatwave are going to deter ANC members from participating in what pundits say could be the last elective conference the party organises while still in power.
The registration process descended into chaos, making it near impossible for the conference to begin as scheduled. On the lawns outside the venue hundreds of would-be delegates chilled under trees, sipping drinks or having something to eat. They were in for another long night.
This part of the conference is called ‘anger’
For a party so divided, the ANC has a dry sense of humour in starting its conference on the Day of Reconciliation. Its members chose to tear each other apart.
When the hordes of foreign and local journalists covering the meeting were finally allowed inside the plenary hall just before 3pm, it was half full. Conference had to start nonetheless or they wouldn’t be able to finish on Tuesday, as scheduled.
But signs of trouble were already evident.
Realising they were live on multiple broadcast and online platforms, a small but extremely vocal group of KwaZulu-Natal delegates capitalised on their 15 minutes of fame.
One comrade, from the Musa Dladla region, whipped out a green scarf printed with an image of a smiling Jacob Zuma and flashed it before the cameras.
Former president Thabo Mbeki, placed between agriculture and land affairs minister Thoko Didiza and ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina, sat almost motionless.
Perhaps he pondered this moment of déjà vu, having experienced such intense backlash by ANC delegates in Polokwane in 2007, before losing the presidency to Zuma.
For a party so divided, the ANC has a dry sense of humour in starting its conference on the Day of Reconciliation.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, also a presidential hopeful, sat on the far end of the Mbeki table in silence.
KwaZulu-Natal might have snubbed her in favour of Zweli Mkhize, but having been referred to the national disciplinary committee for defying party instructions and voting in favour of the adoption of the Phala Phala report, she would have quietly enjoyed the public torment of her prosecutors.
ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe tried to call order, but only fanned the flames.
“Change, change, change!” they heckled, to which he replied this was an elective conference and if they sought change they should vote for it.
The group continued heckling, but Mantashe used the microphone to speak over them. Before he could utter five words, a delegate seated directly opposite him howled: “Gwede, you are old, go home. Hambani nonke (all of you go).”
The noise levels increased after the opening prayer and welcoming songs by a youth choir.
If Mantashe were a football player he would be the centre back of Cyril Ramaphosa FC, working tirelessly to stop the opposition from scoring.
He was determined to ensure the ANC president would deliver his political report and called him to the podium.
The raucous KZN group was unrelenting, mocking Ramaphosa and calling him Phala Phala, his now-infamous Limpopo game farm. About six of them seated in the middle section banged on the table in unison, chanting “load-sheding, load-shedding, load-shedding!”
The president’s pleas for calm fell on deaf ears.
This part of the conference is called ‘enter JZ’
Almost timing it to perfection, Zuma made a late entrance, surrounded by bodyguards and with his daughter Duduzile in tow.
The KZN group went ballistic. “Zuma, Zuma, Zuma!” he got the rock star entrance for which he was aiming.
At this stage it was unclear if Ramaphosa would be allowed to speak, such was the delirium in the hall.
Delegates partial to the president, mostly from Limpopo, North West and parts of the Eastern Cape, tried their luck at a song in praise of their man, but were drowned out.
From deliberations and resolutions of this conference, we must ensure we use the work of the state capture commission to consolidate and intensify efforts against state capture and ensure those responsible, wherever they may be located, face the full might of the law
— President Cyril Ramaphosa
Police minister Bheki Cele got up from his chair exasperated and told Mantashe they should summon Siboniso Duma.
When the KZN ANC chair got up on stage, an intense argument ensued between him, Cele and Mantashe.
Duma eventually approached the group he leads and begged for calm. He particularly called to order a rowdy delegate who refused to take his seat, telling him not to ruin things when they were in a strong position to ensure their chosen candidates would emerge victorious.
Some calm was restored, but Ramaphosa would continue being taunted and booed throughout the presentation of the political report.
This part of the conference is called ‘the political report’
After welcoming delegates and guests, Ramaphosa paid tribute to the late Chris Hani and expressed “deep sadness and disappointment” that his killer had been released on parole. Some in the KZN crowd interjected with a song asking who killed Hani when they loved him so much.
Ramaphosa fixed his eyes on the rows of tables from where he was receiving applause instead of directly in front of him where the jeers were loudest.
He insisted he had a right to deliver the political report, citing rule 16.1.2 of the ANC constitution, which reads: “The president shall present to the national conference and national general council a compressive statement on the state of the nation and the political situation generally.”
He outlined the ANC’s success and candidly admitted its failures. He spoke at length about the interventions his administration made when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, including supporting 5.7-million workers on furlough through the Unemployment Insurance Fund, extending R70bn in tax relief and establishing the Solidarity Fund, which raised R3.4bn for humanitarian causes.
Delegates supporting him applauded; the others fiddled with their phones or threw in a word of derision.
He pointed out that racism and divisions of the past still cast a shadow on efforts to build a democratic society.
“At the most obvious, these divisions are evident in the material conditions under which South Africans live.
"Access to land, wealth, skills, basic services and opportunities still reflect the racial, gender and spatial inequality of the past. Unless these material divides are bridged, the goal of social cohesion and national unity will remain elusive.
"Racist and sexist attitudes persist in parts of society, alongside ethnic chauvinism, homophobia and other forms of intolerance.”
As he spoke those words, KZN delegates carried such looks of disgust you would think they were listening to HF Verwoerd.
When he reached the part about load-shedding and what his government was doing to fix Eskom and secure additional power via independent power producers (IPPs), the same mid-seated KZN group again chanted “load-shedding, load-shedding” while banging on tables.
Ramaphosa’s supporters waited until he got to the part about fighting state capture to raise their noise levels over those of his opponents.
“As the ANC, we have consistently maintained that the (Zondo) commission is a necessary part of the broader social effort to end all forms of state capture and corruption.
"We set up a process to engage with the findings and recommendations of the commission to determine how these can help to enhance the process of fundamental renewal and rebuilding within our movement, as well as in government and broader society.
“From deliberations and resolutions of this conference, we must ensure we use the work of the state capture commission to consolidate and intensify efforts against state capture and ensure those responsible, wherever they may be located, face the full might of the law.”
Almost all the delegates from Limpopo stood up to applaud and whistle loudly while holding two fingers out to indicate their preference for a second term for the president.
Our experience of recent years is that disunity does not arise from ideological, political or strategic differences, but from a contest over positions in the state and the resources that are attached to them
— Ramaphosa
“We know that there will be resistance, but this must strengthen our resolve to protect and advance the gains of our revolution,” Ramaphosa said, capitalising on this rare show of support.
After reflecting on international issues, including work done with the AU, demands for reform from the UN and South Africa’s stance on the war in Ukraine, Ramaphosa addressed divisions in the ANC and efforts to renew the party.
"He said unity and coherence in the ANC wereas necessary for the advancement of the interests of South Africans. But he warned that unity must be based on observing the party’s values. The fight over positions and resources was the source of this disunity, he said.
“Our experience of recent years is that disunity does not arise from ideological, political or strategic differences, but from a contest over positions in the state and the resources that are attached to them.
"Some of the divisions that existed before the (2017 conference) continue within the organisation, including within the national executive committee (NEC). As we anticipated, the actions we were mandated to take against corruption and state capture have caused friction among us.”
This part of the conference is called ‘the end’
It is not the first time ANC members have openly revolted against a sitting president. For Mbeki in 2007, though, it was clear heading to Polokwane that he didn’t have the numbers to stop the Zuma ascendancy despite what his lobbyists told him.
Ramaphosa has entered Nasrec with more than 2,000 branch nominations, more than double those of his closest rival, Zweli Mkhize.
But KZN leaders believe they can divide other provinces enough to shore up his numbers and ensure he closes the conference on Tuesday as president. They are not just there to see the back of Ramaphosa, they want everyone and everything associated with him out.
This is a fight to the death, choreographed in the background by Zuma, Ace Magashule and others whose political futures and even freedom depend on the decimation of Ramaphosa and his backers.
The ANC will come out of this conference more divided than ever and in 2024, when South Africans cast their votes, it will realise the party is finally over — literally and figuratively.
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