African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa was booed as he arrived at the party’s KwaZulu-Natal elective conference. He eventually managed to address the crowd at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban, despite the unwelcome reception.
Ramaphosa arrived to officially close the provincial conference on Sunday evening, although it was initially rumoured that he may not pitch due to other commitments.
When he took to the podium delegates broke into song – singing the “wenzeni uZuma” which translates to “what has Zuma done”. KwaZulu-Natal is a stronghold of former president Jacob Zuma. Security was beefed up ahead of Ramaphosa’s arrival on Sunday after detractors threatened to make the province a no-go zone for Ramaphosa.
Newly elected KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Siboniso Duma called on booing delegates to remain disciplined. This allowed Ramaphosa to eventually deliver his speech.
KZN is the ANC’s largest province, which continues to show some resistance against Ramaphosa since his rise to power in 2017.
The province did not support his bid, it also emerged as the Nasrec conference’s biggest loser, failing to feature anywhere amongst the top officials, while some ANC members in KZN have taken an affront to the party on Ramaphosa’s watch over what they’ve defined as the “ill-treatment” of former president Jacob Zuma.
Zuma was also jailed for 15 months for being in contempt of the constitutional court last year. He is still on medical parole.
“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,” ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile told journalists on Friday, following the first open session of the conference.
Some delegates already committed to booing the sitting president at the beginning of the conference, while posters calling for a picket outside the Olive Convention Centre, where the conference is taking place are being circulated.
-EWN
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