Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was to deliver the keynote address yesterday, but will now do so at 10am today at the Colesberg sports grounds. File photo Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was to deliver the keynote address yesterday, but will now do so at 10am today at the Colesberg sports grounds. File photo
The ANC provincial elective conference in the Northern Cape got off to a rocky start yesterday due to “technical glitches” with the registration of delegates in Colesberg.
The programme, due to begin at 8am, only started in the late afternoon, after the electronic system to accredit delegates had crashed and the details of participants had to be recorded manually.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was to deliver the keynote address yesterday, but will now do so at 10am today at the Colesberg sports grounds.
ANC members attending the conference said there was a “peaceful atmosphere”, despite the bombshell of Premier Sylvia Lucas reshuffling her executive on Wednesday.
The cabinet shake-up ruffled feathers with the ANC's national and provincial structures and Cosatu aggrieved that they were not consulted on the decision.
Cosatu provincial secretary Anele Gxoyiya called for the premier to step down with immediate effect.
Voting for the new provincial leadership is expected to get under way today.
The main contenders for the party’s provincial chairperson post are Lucas and ANC pro- vincial secretary Zamani Saul.
Speaking to the media, Saul announced his support for Ramaphosa to succeed President Jacob Zuma.
“It is normal practice for a deputy president to become the president and it is the general attitude of members that Ramaphosa should be the next president. He will bring about stability and unity.”
Former MEC for finance, economic development and tourism Mac Jack said he accepted his axing from the provincial cabinet “positively”.
“I knew that it was the premier’s personal decision and not the organisation’s. It cannot be about performance or anything else.
“We must remain focused on the ANC and its alliance partners and cannot allow anything to distract us. We must ensure that it is a successful conference… we all know that it was postponed several times,” said Jack.