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By Loyiso Sidimba 
20h ago
Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared unfazed by talks about his removal, saying the only ANC meeting with powers to fire him was next year’s ANC national conference.
Ramaphosa said at a meeting to mark the third anniversary of the death of fighting stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela that he was not concerned by claims there was a move to remove him from the ruling party.
“The NGC is not about removing or installing anyone.
“The NGC is about renewing our policies, implementation and where we are and from then on we have our policy conference, and then we have a leadership election conference, which is in 2022,” Ramaphosa said.
Earlier this week, following a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), Ramaphosa announced that he was focusing on uniting the party in a principled way.
He said that the fact that the ANC secretary general, Ace Magashule, was not present at the commemoration of Madikizela-Mandela and her daughter Zindzi Mandela, did not mean that the ruling party was divided.
He said other members of the party’s top leadership structure were also not present at Fourways Memorial Park in Joburg.
Ramaphosa also referred to his administration’s Covid-19 vaccination program, assuring the country that it would accelerate.
“The health minister (Dr. Zweli Mkhize) will soon announce that we have now signed all the agreements and that we are awaiting delivery and that the vaccination program will be launched very quickly,” Ramaphosa said.
He explained that the national executive committee of the ANC demanded that the vaccination process be accelerated.
“That is what the government is going to focus on,” Ramaphosa promised.
At its NEC meeting, the ANC announced that vaccination should be accelerated.
Cosatu also accepted the ANC’s decision that all ANC members accused of corruption or serious crimes must withdraw within 30 days and if they fail to do so they would be suspended from the party.
“This is a positive step in the right direction, but the federation has witnessed many of these encouraging steps only to see them fail during the implementation phase.
“Experience has taught us to wait for the implementation of this decision before making our final assessment of its importance.
“The organization has drawn an army of vexatious litigants into its ranks who have used the judicial system to undermine organizational discipline and fight factional battles,” the federation warned.
The NEC decision was followed by the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) decision that overturned the results of the Free State provincial conference in 2018.
The SCA found that the conference that replaced Magashule with Sam Mashinini was illegal.
According to Cosatu, the successful implementation of this decision by the ANC NEC will go a long way toward making the ruling party a more effective leader of society and a sharp instrument for fundamental change.
“South Africa faces the challenge of a great crisis of gross materialism and corruption.
“The ANC, as the leader of society, has the responsibility to lead from the front to win this fight and eradicate this cancer, in its ranks, which is destroying the moral fiber of the organization and also our society,” said the federation.
MESS
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