ANC KwaZulu-Natal delegates attending the party’s second leg of the national conference in Durban yesterday were in a sombre mood. This after their party presidential candidate, former health minister Zweli Mkhize, lost to Cyril Ramaphosa and hopes of radical economic transformation policies being adopted is dwindling.

Unlike previous ANC gatherings where KZN party members took the lead when it came to dance and song, the province’s delegates at yesterday’s conference were largely silent throughout proceedings.

The second leg of the ANC national conference came about after the party failed to conclude its discussions during the five-day conference which started on December 16 and closed on December 20.

With its main hub in Bloemfontein in the Free State, the first day of the two-day conference, which is scheduled to close today, saw delegates converge at various venues across the country to partake in the virtual discussions.

In KZN, about 900 conference delegates from the province descended on Durban’s ICC Exhibition Centre.

High-profile ANC members who were part of KZN delegates participating in the virtual conference included former president Jacob Zuma and Mkhize.

Yesterday’s programme saw various ANC conference commissions presenting their policy discussion reports to the party’s delegates scattered across the country.

Key policies that were scheduled for discussion include the contentious ANC step-aside regulation, which compels party members facing criminal charges to step down from ANC and government positions.

The ANC in KZN had pushed for Mkhize’s election as party president during the December five-day conference, which took place at Johannesburg’s Nasrec Expo Centre.

However, most delegates from other provinces endorsed Ramaphosa’s second-term bid.

An ANC delegate from the Musa Dladla region in Richards Bay, who did not want to be named, told The Witness yesterday that he found the discussions ‘boring’.

“They left me with a sense that whatever KZN says, no one will listen. Everything is being controlled by Ramaphosa’s supporters, many of whom just hate KZN.”

“Frankly speaking, I’m not sure whether I will attend tomorrow’s [Friday’s] session,” he said.

“Even the ANC KZN leadership appear to no longer have the energy to fight for the adoption of radical policies; they were just sitting there watching as Ramaphosa’s people dictate the rules of engagement.”

During the build-up to the ANC national conference, KZN was pushing for the adoption of radical economic transformation policies.

Furthermore, the province was calling for the scrapping of the step-aside policy, saying the regulation was unconstitutional.

Following KZN’s failure to have its preferred candidate, Mkhize, elected party president, it is unclear whether the province will be able to influence delegates from other provinces to endorse its radical policy stance.

Opening the two-day virtual national conference from Bloemfontein yesterday, Ramaphosa made it clear that the ANC would not change policies for the sake of it.

“Where our policies remain relevant and appropriate, we need to be more focused in ensuring their effective and full implementation. Where our policies are inadequate, we need to do things differently.”

Delegates at the first leg of the conference, Ramaphosa said, took a ‘firm stance against corruption within our owns ranks, government and society at large’.

“Through the deliberations in commissions, delegates made it clear that we need to proceed with greater urgency … to address the challenges that confront our people.

“We need to restore our relationship as a movement with the people of South Africa. We need to earn the position of leader of society through our work among our people,” he said.