President Zuma is in his second and last term as president of the country.
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In 2010 NGC, the ANCYL was another factor, the party had “to deal with discipline”.
“We can not afford a situation where continental initiatives to bring about lasting peace, security and stability on the continent continue to be undermined by powerful foreign forces”, Zuma said. But he is unlikely to have to provide explanations for the rot that has set in under his wardship.
The campaign to dethrone him started shortly after the ANC’s 2012 Mangaung conference and those now seeking to remove him were his allies back then.
The importance of accepting the outcomes of internal processes and reducing factional battles within the party were emphasised in the organisational report delivered to delegates by ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe.
Mantashe presided over the dissolution of the youth league’s leadership, setting the stage for the election of Collen Maine, a political lightweight, last month. When it eventually took place this year, Zuma’s key allies had the upper hand and ensured the election of their preferred candidate, Bathabile Dlamini.
“The committee should decide and not make recommendations to the NEC on whatever it is dealing with, because there is reluctance to act amongst the members of the NEC”, he said.
The policy congress, often been described as “festivals of ideas”, comes at a time South Africa is at a crossroads, as the ruling party is accused of corruption, while the economy stutters.
African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma took a hard stance on factionalism and ill-discipline in the party, saying that the “negative tendencies” were undermining the party.
But will they? It is unlikely. The state of the ANC was undermined by the fact that it was highly factionalised. But the ANC in that province is divided.
Mokonyane said conferences of the ANC were conferences of the branches.
“The ANC is very anxious about the local elections”.
Many suspect that the Premier League has Zuma’s support.
“Even if they [ANC members] beg me I won’t stand [again for president]”, he told the Mail and Guardian newspaper on the sidelines of the conference, without going into reasons behind this decision.
So far, Zuma has been silent about the rise of this faction.
He is expected to step down as leader of the party when his current term expires in 2017 to prepare for a new national leader, as the ANC says it does not want two centres of power.
Discussions of a third term for Zuma has surfaced in various structures of the ANC.
“Most ANC branches function well,”said Zuma”.
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The ANC is anxious about the growing number of mass protests in the country, which it says could opportunistically be used by a few forces to stage a regime change similar to North Africa’s Arab Spring.
