ANC policy conference: Step-aside rule, nationalisation and immigration to dominate discussions

Delegates at the African National Congress (ANC) policy conference will on Saturday take part in commissions to discuss wide ranging party policy documents.

Commission sessions will be closed.

Chairpersons are then later expected to start reporting to plenary on the decisions taken.

At the centre of the discussions are the party’s contentious step-aside rule, organisational renewal, the proposed nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank (SARB), land restitution and a whole new policy framework discussion in the ANC’s history – that of immigration.

The governing party has had no credible policy framework on immigration since it took power in 1994. This means that the ANC has had no guide on how it should deal with illegal immigrants in the country.

During the first closed session on Friday evening, delegates adopted credentials, paving the way for conference work to begin.

The biggest province in terms of membership is KwaZulu-Natal, which has the largest number of delegates at party conferences.

‘ANC at its weakest’

Opening the conference on Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s charged speech laid bare the crisis in the ANC – corruption and the party’s downward spiral in terms of voter support.

He told members that the ANC was at its weakest due to factional infighting and corruption that has alienated it from its support base.

Ramaphosa stuck to his guns on corruption within the ANC, telling delegates there will be no turning back on the party’s decision to end the scourge.

“To renew the ANC, we must end corruption and patronage. This requires, among other things, that we fully implement the resolutions of our 54th National Conference on dealing with corruption.”

“On this, there can be no going back; there can be no compromise. We cannot abandon our
principled positions on corruption in pursuit of a false unity,” he said.

ALSO READ: ANC divisions driven by corruption, competition for positions, Ramaphosa admits

It emerged that he appeared before the party’s integrity committee on Thursday to face questions on the Phala Phala farmgate saga, but chose not say anything about the 2020 theft.

Confirming Ramaphosa’s appearance before the committee, head of policy Jeff Radebe told journalists that Ramaphosa’s session was never concluded, and that another meeting would be arranged for the president.

The Phala Phala farm saga came to light when former spy boss, Arthur Fraser, opened a case against Ramaphosa, claiming the president had concealed a theft that occurred at his game farm in Limpopo in 2020.

Ramaphosa had vowed to cooperate with the integrity committee whenever called upon to account.

Last month, he told the Limpopo provincial conference that the large sum of money stolen from the farm was from animal sales, and that he did nothing wrong as he never stole public funds.

NOW READ: Phala Phala: ‘Ramaphosa will return to integrity committee’ – Radebe