- President Cyril Ramaphosa's allies remain upset at the mocking experienced by the president while he attempted to give a political report at the ANC conference.
- Outgoing ANC national executive committee member Derek Hanekom believes former president Jacob Zuma contributed to the disruptions with his late arrival.
- Hanekom says Zuma should be charged by the ANC for his public comments about Ramaphosa.
Former president Jacob Zuma should be disciplined and charged by the ANC national executive committee for ill-discipline linked to his public comments about President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This was the view of outgoing ANC national executive committee member Derek Hanekom who described Zuma's late arrival at the conference on Friday as likely deliberate.
Zuma walked in while Ramaphosa was reading his political report.
The late arrival caused much disruption as ANC KwaZulu-Natal delegates cheered and praised his appearance.
Ramaphosa had to raise his voice to be heard. It took the intervention of the ANC KwaZulu-Natal leadership for members to calm down.
In an interview with News24 on Saturday at Nasrec, Hanekom said that Zuma's actions on Friday could not be viewed as a coincidence.
He said Zuma should be charged by the newly elected national executive committee (NEC) for ill- discipline. Hanekom believes the comments made by Zuma in public, coupled with his late arrival on Friday at the conference, showed he had been an ill-disciplined member of the ANC.
"An annoying moment was when former president Jacob Zuma walked in just as the president was starting to deliver his report. It was very disrespectful, and I am of the view I don't have any evidence or proof. I do not believe it was a coincidence and was extremely disrespectful, and I think this, coupled with his statements, constitutes acts of ill-discipline," Hanekom told News24 on the sidelines of the ANC conference at Nasrec.
"I believe he should face charges, and I think the incoming NEC should charge him, and he should appear before the disciplinary committee," Hanekom added.
Zuma has continuously attacked Ramaphosa at public gatherings he has attended in recent weeks.
Hanekom is not the only Ramaphosa ally to express such strong views against Zuma, and the mocking witnessed during the opening address.
Another ANC NEC, Mmamoloko Kubayi, said those delegates who mocked Ramaphosa did not only disrespect him but the ANC's standing.
She told News24 that if delegates remained unhappy with the president's leadership, they should voice it through the ballot box.
She said:
According to Kubayi, the ANC was an organisation that must be protected at all costs.
"When they [the delegates mainly from KZN who tried to disrupt Ramaphosa] did what they did, it happened in front of national and international media. They, therefore, did not impugn the president's image but that of the party.
ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane shared similar sentiments.
He said Ramaphosa and the ANC's standing were disrespected.
"I believe they were disrespecting the ANC, not just the president," Mabuyane said.
He added that the ANC had similar incidents in the past with scandals faced by presidents, but those former leaders were never treated in a similar manner shown to Ramaphosa on Friday.
"We had situations like this with former presidents, but we never disrespected them. That has escalated to a level of disrespecting the ANC, which was very unfortunate and the lowest point in the ANC," Mabunaye said.
Ramaphosa, in closing his political report, commented on what he believed was a need for the ANC to renew itself, but he said this could not be done while members talked over each other while refusing to engage.