African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa was booed when he arrived at the party’s elective conference in KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend.
He was scheduled to officially close the conference on Sunday evening, but was not received well when he took to the podium to deliver his speech.
ANC delegates started singing “wenzeni uZuma” which means “what has Zuma done” as the president started his address at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban, as reported by EWN. Kwa-Zulu Natal is a stronghold of former president Jacob Zuma.
Security was heightened in preparation of Ramaphosa’s arrival after detractors “threatened to make KwaZulu-Natal a no-go zone for Ramaphosa”.
Siboniso Duma, the newly elected KwaZulu-Natal chairperson, managed to bring the booing crowds under control, which eventually allowed Ramaphosa to deliver his closing speech where he preached unity and renewal, as per SABC News.
“KwaZulu-Natal has always shown leadership on a number of issues that affect our organization as a whole. You’ve always been leaders in showing a path to the future that our organization should take. So I would say we must emerge from this conference, with a clear program and in divided commitment to improve the lives of our people here in KZN,” said the president.
KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC’s largest province, continues to show some resistance against Ramaphosa. The province “did not support his bid” and also “emerged as the Nasrec conference’s biggest loser”. Some ANC members in the province have also taken offence by the party’s “ill-treatment” of former president Jacob Zuma on Ramaphosa’s watch.
“What they were singing today was not directed at anyone but they want you as the leadership to note their concerns … The song Wenzeni u’Zuma has a history and therefore when delegates see leadership it’s an opportunity for them to say leadership take note of our pain, our complaints,” said ANC treasurer general Paul Mashatile, following the first open session of the conference.
Ramaphosa has congratulated the party in KwaZulu-Natal for holding what he called a ‘disciplined and well-organised’ conference.
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