New executive for ANC

Ms Joyce Mashamba is the new deputy chairperson, with Cassel Mathale appointed provincial secretary. Other key office bearers elected were Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane (Deputy Secretary) and De Wet Monakedi (Provincial Treasurer).

Ramatlhodi

The congress marked the final departure of former premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi from the party's executive structures. In presenting his report to the conference, as outgoing provincial chairperson, Ramatlhodi paid tribute to everyone who helped to build solid foundations which led to the creation of Limpopo, and called for an ongoing spirit of unity in the party.

He said "revolutionary energies" had gone into the building of the province. The building process was marked by the overwhelming support of party members, whose unflinching faith in the movement could only be described as humbling.

"That we built it from desperate and fragmented administrations, is due to the selflessness of ANC branches and members of our great movement; these facts place special political responsibility upon the movement as we ascend mountains of hope, as we march confidently to the land of of the Freedom Charter," the former premier continued.

Ramatlhodi listed the clauses of the Freedom Charter, with its emphasis on peace and friendship, the creation of security, housing and equal rights for all, the assurance that the land would be shared among those who worked it, and that the doors of learning and culture would be opened. He reminded the delegates that the Charter also declared that "these freedoms we will fight for, side by side throughout our lives, until we have won our liberty".

Factions

Turning to the Jacob Zuma issue, Ramatlhodi said recent events in this regard had posed special challenges for the ANC. However, the party welcomed the fact that Zuma had been accorded the opportunity to explain his side of the story to the people of South Africa and the world at large.

He also called for undivided support for the ANC leadership which would emerge from the provincial conference. In the past, individuals who were not elected to certain positions often responded by lighting tribal and ethnic fires, and challenging the popular decisions taken by the majority of conference delegates.

"It is precisely this disease that led to the emergence of factions - thankfully, and because the ANC is larger than any individual, we have successfully dismantled these creatures called factions," Ramatlhodi assured the delegates.

News - Date: 01 July 2005

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