54th National Conference of the African National Congress
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The 54th National Conference of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
(ANC) took place from 16 to 20 December 2017 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in
Nasrec Nasrec is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name "Nasrec" is an abbreviation for "National Recreation Center". Nasrec is the last station on its branch lin ...
,
Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...
. At the conference, the ANC elected its
National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...
(NEC) and other top internal leaders. Often referred to as the Nasrec Conference, it was held during the centenary of the birth of former ANC President Oliver Tambo and was convened under the theme, "Remember Tambo: Towards Unity, Renewal and Radical Socioeconomic Transformation." On 18 December 2017,
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...
, who had been deputy president of the ANC since 2012 and
Deputy President of South Africa The deputy president of South Africa is the deputy to the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa and is a member of the National Assembly and the Cabinet. The deputy president is constitutionally required to "assis ...
since 2014, was elected president of the ANC, narrowly defeating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. On 15 February 2018, following Jacob Zuma's resignation, the National Assembly
indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office (direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the old ...
Ramaphosa, unopposed, as President of South Africa. As ANC President, Ramaphosa was the party's candidate for president in the
2019 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 8 May 2019 to elect a new President, National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would ...
, which the ANC won with 57.50% of the vote. Indeed, because of the ANC's entrenched electoral majority at the national level, every ANC President since Nelson Mandela has been elected president. The internal elections at the conference were hotly contested at least partly for that reason.


Background

Jacob Zuma had been re-elected to a second five-year term as President of South Africa in 2014 and would be ineligible to stand for re-election in 2019. The ANC does not have internal presidential term limits, but Zuma had said as early as 2015 that he would step aside after two terms to allow the party to select a presidential candidate as his successor. In the run-up to the 54th National Conference, much of the campaigning was polarised by Zuma's controversial presidency, and especially by allegations that he had facilitated widespread state capture. In April 2017, there were nation-wide protests calling for Zuma's resignation, and by April a
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...
had been tabled in Parliament, though it was narrowly defeated in August. However, Zuma and his allies retained substantial support, especially within certain party structures.


Ramaphosa campaign

The National Union of Mineworkers endorsed
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...
for the presidency in September 2016, and the Young Communist League of the
South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...
(SACP) endorsed him as early as January 2017. During the same period, Ramaphosa spoke out against corruption in his public addresses. However, internal ANC campaigning is rarely overt, and it is widely accepted that Ramaphosa did not publicly launch his campaign (though unofficially) until an SACP event, organised in memory of
Chris Hani Chris Hani (28 June 1942 – 10 April 1993), born Martin Thembisile Hani , was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce ...
, in
Uitenhage, Eastern Cape Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...
on 23 April 2017. Speaking at the event alongside
Mcebisi Jonas Mcebisi Hubert Jonas (born 1960) is a former Deputy Finance Minister of the Government of South Africa who served from 2014 to 2016. He has also been a Member of the Executive Council for Economic Development and Environmental Affairs in the Ea ...
, who had been fired as Deputy Finance Minister by Zuma shortly after making public claims about corruption in government, Ramaphosa criticised factionalism, patronage, and rent-seeking among state and party officials, and said that he would support a judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture. Ramaphosa campaigned under the banner #CR17 Siyavuma, on a platform of anti-corruption and pro-industrialisation, pro-investment economic policies. His economic agenda was set out in his "10-Point Plan." He was supported by the
Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union expelled, ...
and the SACP, as well as by politicians including
Angie Motshekga Matsie Angelina "Angie" Motshekga (born 19 June 1955) is a South African politician and educator, serving as the Minister of Basic Education since May 2009. She was also appointed as an acting president of the Republic of South Africa on 2 July ...
and
Pravin Gordhan Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan (born 12 April 1949) is a politician and anti-apartheid activist who has held various ministerial posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014 and again from 2015 until 2017 ...
. The financing of Ramaphosa's campaign, which reportedly cost several hundred million rand, has more recently become the subject of various allegations against Ramaphosa. Most prominently, the
Public Protector The Public Protector in South Africa is one of six independent state institutions set up by the country's Constitution to support and defend democracy. According to Section 181 of the Constitution: * These institutions are independent, and subje ...
Busisiwe Mkhwebane implicated his campaign in financial misconduct. However, the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
overturned her findings in July 2021.


Dlamini-Zuma campaign

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had been the head of the African Union Commission in
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
, but in mid-2016 she announced that she would not stand for a second term, and she returned to South Africa in early 2017. She also received endorsements as early as January 2017, from the
ANC Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from b ...
, and on some accounts her supporters had been "lobbying openly" for her candidacy during 2016. She was also later endorsed by the
ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...
and the
Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association The uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA) was an auxiliary political organisation affiliated to South Africa's African National Congress (ANC). It was founded in 1996 to represent the interests of individuals who had participa ...
. Dlamini-Zuma's campaign, under the banner #WeAreReady, centred on land redistribution, reform at the
South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...
, and economic transformation generally. Indeed, the ANC faction to which she was aligned was, and still is, sometimes referred to as the Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction. "Radical economic transformation" was a longstanding policy slogan of the ANC, but was revived by Zuma in 2017 and subsequently was sometimes used by his allies to defend "rent-seeking practices" and the influence of the
Gupta family The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...
. Thus, whereas Ramaphosa was taken as the anti-Zuma candidate, Dlamini-Zuma was seen as strongly aligned with her ex-husband and his allies.


Other presidential contenders

Although Ramaphosa and Dlamini-Zuma were long considered the frontrunners, other ANC members who campaigned officially or unofficially for the Presidency included
Lindiwe Sisulu Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu (born 10 May 1954) is a South African politician, member of parliament since 1994, and member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress currently serving as Minister of Tourism since August 20 ...
(under the slogan "It's a Must"),
Zweli Mkhize Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize (born 2 February 1956) is a South African medical doctor and politician who served as the Minister of Health from May 2019 until his resignation on 5 August 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Cooperative Governa ...
("#AbantuBathi"), Mathews Phosa ("Saving the ANC"),
Baleka Mbete Baleka Mbete (born 24 September 1949) is a South African politician who served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa from May 2014 to May 2019. She was previously Speaker of the National Assembly from 2004 to 2008, and Deputy ...
, and
Jeff Radebe Jeffrey Thamsanqa "Jeff" Radebe (born 18 February 1953) is a South African politician who was last appointed as Minister of Energy by Cyril Ramaphosa on 26 February 2018. He served in the government of South Africa as Minister in the Presidency ...
. However, in early December 2017, following the ANC provincial general congresses, the party branches in
Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...
,
Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...
, the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape, and the
Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
nominated Ramaphosa for the presidency; KwaZulu-Natal, the
North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, Mpumalanga, and the Free State nominated Dlamini-Zuma. At that point, a serious challenge from a third candidate became unlikely, although one could still have emerged during the conference if he or she was nominated from the floor and received substantial support. Shortly afterwards, Sisulu dropped out of the presidency contest to pursue the nomination she had received for the deputy presidency, and she ultimately joined Ramaphosa's slate. Mkhize was also nominated for the deputy presidency, but withdrew his candidacy amid rumours that he had made a deal with the Dlamini-Zuma faction. Mbete endorsed Ramaphosa at the start of the conference.


Leadership election

On the second day of the conference, delegates elected candidates for the "Top Six" leadership positions (president, deputy president, chairperson, secretary general, deputy secretary general and treasurer). Voting ran through the night on 17 to 18 December, and the results, announced on the evening of Monday 18 December, were as follows (victorious candidates in bold): Ramaphosa and Dlamini-Zuma had campaigned alongside slates of "preferred" candidates for the other Top Six positions. Of those elected,
Gwede Mantashe Samson Gwede Mantashe, popularly known as Gwede Mantashe, (born 21 June 1955) is a South African politician and trade unionist, who as of 18 December 2017, serves as the National Chairperson of the African National Congress. He is also a former ...
and
Paul Mashatile Paul Shipokosa Mashatile (born 21 October 1961) is a South African politician who is currently the Deputy President of the governing African National Congress (ANC). Before his election to that position in December 2022, he was ANC Treasurer Ge ...
had run on the Ramaphosa slate; the other three winners campaigned with Dlamini-Zuma. Although all the races were close, the Secretary General contest was the tightest, with Free State Premier
Ace Magashule Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule (born 3 November 1959) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who was Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) until his suspension on 3 May 2021. He served as the Premier ...
winning by only 24 votes.


Election of the National Executive Committee

The other 80 members of the National Executive Committee were elected and announced at the end of the conference. 235 candidates appeared on the ballot sheets, and 4,283 ballots were cast among the 4,776 eligible voters. The committee as constituted at the conference has been described as evenly split between Zuma supporters and Ramaphosa supporters. Among the incumbents who failed to gain re-election were
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
leaders
Blade Nzimande Bonginkosi Emmanuel "Blade" Nzimande (born 14 April 1958 in Edendale near Pietermaritzburg) is a South African politician, sociologist, philosopher, educator, anti-apartheid activist and Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology. H ...
and
Thulas Nxesi Thembelani Waltermade Nxesi (born 1 January 1959), popularly known as Thulas Nxesi, is a South African politician. A member of the African National Congress, he is the Minister of Employment and Labour. He was previously Minister of Public Wor ...
, head of the umKhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association
Kebby Maphatsoe Emmanuel Kebby Maphatsoe (31 December 1962 – 31 August 2021) was a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2019 until his death in 2021. He had previously served from May 2009 to May 2019, when he lost his seat, however he returned ...
, and party stalwart
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She se ...
. The following ten candidates received the most votes: #
Zweli Mkhize Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize (born 2 February 1956) is a South African medical doctor and politician who served as the Minister of Health from May 2019 until his resignation on 5 August 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Cooperative Governa ...
(2,550 votes) #
Lindiwe Zulu Lindiwe Daphney Zulu (born 21 April 1958) is South Africa's Minister of Social Development. She was the special advisor to the President on International Relations. She previously served as the head of communication for the PAN African women's ...
(2,280 votes) #
Reginah Mhaule Makgabo Reginah Mhaule is the Deputy Minister of Basic Education in South Africa. She is the Former MEC of Education in the Mpumalanga Provincial Government under the Administration of David Mabuza. She was appointed as Deputy Minister of Inter ...
# David Masondo (2,076 votes) # Malusi Gigaba (2,029 votes) #
Ronald Lamola Ronald Ozzy Lamola (born 21 November 1983) is a South African lawyer and politician, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, and a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He has also been serving as a Member of the National Assemb ...
#
Violet Siwela Violet Sizani Siwela is a South African politician who has been the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development in the National Assembly of South Africa since 2019. A member of the African National Congress, she has been ...
(2,009 votes) #
Zizi Kodwa Ncediso Goodenough "Zizi" Kodwa (born 19 January 1970) is a South African politician and communications strategist who is currently serving as the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture since March 2023. Before that, he was the Deputy Minister ...
(1,998 votes) # Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (1,975 votes) #
Obed Bapela Kopeng Obed Bapela (born 28 February 1958) is a South African politician currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the South African Government in the cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa. Bapela is al ...


Resolutions

Notable resolutions agreed at the Conference included that the ANC should pursue land expropriation without compensation as a matter of national policy, that the mandate of the
South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...
should be expanded, and that ANC members alleged to have been involved in corruption should " step aside" pending further investigation. The former two resolutions are considered triumphs of the so-called Radical Economic Transformation faction over the Ramaphosa-aligned faction, and the implementation of all three has been much contested.


References


External links


Official conference website
{{National Conference of the African National Congress National Conferences of the African National Congress National Conference of the African National Congress National Conference of the African National Congress National Conference of the African National Congress National Conference of the African National Congress