Johannesburg - Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has urged delegates at the 55th elective conference of the ANC to vote differently than how they voted in 2017.
Magashule was speaking in a veiled manner against the re-election of President Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president.
He claimed that the ANC had been completely transformed because it had been infiltrated by people who did not care about communities and had no struggle credentials.
Magashule is the only ANC secretary-general who could not deliver an organisational report at an elective conference in the history of the party.
According to media reports, Magashule has been meeting with close allies who are opposed to Ramaphosa's election as ANC president in order to consolidate power and vote behind former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who is challenging Ramaphosa for the ANC presidency.
"The branches of the ANC must decide if they want the ANC to win the 2024 elections. The branches of the ANC must not do what they did in 2017. They must elect leaders who are not going to sell Eskom and SAA. I am calling on branches to seriously apply their minds," Magashule said.
Magashule bemoaned the targeting of ANC parliamentarians who voted for the adoption of the Section 89 report, which had damning findings against Ramaphosa.
This comes after disciplinary processes had been launched against senior ANC member Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who voted in favour of the adoption of the Section 89 report.
"The Zondo Commission said members of parliament take an oath, and they must exercise their conscience when it comes to taking decisions in the parliamentary process. We should recognise judgments when it suits certain members of the ANC," he said.
Magashule said Pravin Gordhan and Derek Hanekom had in the past violated party lines, but nothing was done to discipline them.
Magashule said he was disappointed that Ramaphosa could not accept the section.
The Star