Mabuyane endorses Ramaphosa following EC victory
Returning ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane has thrown his weight behind President Cyril Ramaphosa as the party sets its sights on its elective conference in December.
Mabuyane walked away with 812 votes following a bruising battle for control of the party against his challenger Babalo Madikizela, who only manage to garner 662.
All of Mabuyane's allies came out as winners against Madikizela's slate.
A Ramaphosa-ally, Mabuyane in turn pledged his support for his bid for a second term shortly after the president arrived at the East London ICC to close to the sitting.
“We have spoken about this renewal of the ANC for some time, a number of conferences of the ANC have met around this, have resolved around this but there hasn’t been a leader that is willing to take a risk because we all have our skeletons,” he joked to delegates,” he said.
“But President, you said that this is the time that the ANC must be saved from us for South Africans and followed us from there. In the Eastern Cape we really believe that the 54th conference of the ANC was a Damascus moment for the ANC - we were struck by that lightning and we’ll never go back.
“The stance you have taken to lead the ANC is a recommended one and we support that, that’s why comrade president you must avail yourself when you are nominated by branches of the ANC,” he told Ramaphosa.
Cheers by the delegates vibrated throughout the massive venue.
Mabuyane added he planned to lead several programs to drive the party’s plans for renewal.
“The ANC must support its deploys in urban municipalities to deliver better services so that we regain lost trust and confidence.
“In the four-year mandate we have been given here, we can make wonders to change socioeconomic fortunes of our rural districts.”
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