Deputy Chair of the Province
Deputy President of the ANC, comrade Cyril Ramaphosa
Comrade Senzo Mchunu
Leadership of the Revolutionary Tripartite Alliance
Leadership of the ANC Leagues
BEC Members
ANC members present

Today I will say exactly what I said ten years back, in 2007 September,
when the then Deputy President, Jacob Zumba visited the province as part
of his ANC presidential campaign. The reason I decided to take such an
approach is because of three stark similarities between then and now.

The first similarity is the host town, the 2007 event was in kimberley,
just as this one.
The second similarity is that the then deputy president of the ANC was
under severe attack by those who did not want him to ascend to the
position of the President of the ANC.
The third similarity is that we are just a week away from nomination
branch general meetings as in 2007.

In my 2007 address at the open air arena I highlighted the fact that it
is an established tradition in the ANC that the Deputy President of the
ANC is the next in line for the position of the President. The then
Deputy President agreed with this assertion in his follow-up address.

The 1949 ANC National Conference unanimously adopted a blueprint which
seeks to clarify the election of president. This was after a fierce
battle for leadership between Dr Xuma and Dr Moroka. The 1949 National
Conference overwhelmingly resolved that 'From now henceforth, the Deputy
President of the organization shall preferably succeed an outgoing
president'. This resolution sought to guide the attitude of ANC members
in exercising their democratic rights when electing the President.

That is the reason why in 1952, one of the Deputy Presidents, Chief
Albert Luthuli was elected  as the ANC President. The deputy to Luthuli,
OR Tambo was elected as the President in 1969. The deputy to OR Tambo,
was Nelson Mandela, and he was elected as President in 1991. The Deputy
to Nelson Mandela, was Thabo Mbeki, and was elected President in 1997.
The deputy to Thabo Mbeki was Jacob Zuma, and was elected president of
the ANC in 2007.

From 1952 - 2007, through democratic practice the ANC and its structures
remained faithful to the 1949 conference resolution to ensure smooth
transition of leadership. Now in 2017 as the Northern Cape we pledge to
remain faithful to that resolution. Hence our 08th Provincial Conference
resolved that we support comrade Cyril Ramaphosa to be the next President
of the ANC. He is next in line. Except for that, he is a politically
astute leader with immense capabilities. Comrade Cyril was elected in
1991 Durban Conference as the 13th Secretary General of the ANC. As such,
as the Northern Cape we are geared-up to have comrade Cyril Ramaphosa
elected as the 13th President of the ANC.

The tradition of ensuring smooth transition of leadership in the ANC has
been erased in the minds of those infected by the Gupta virus. So comrade
Cyril Ramaphosa, if you want to be the president of the ANC, you must be
prepared to fight for it. If you are prepared for this battle, which at
times will be very ugly, as the Northern Cape we are combat-ready to
stand with you. 

Towards the Polokwane Conference in 2007 there were four emerging and
disturbing trends that emboldened us to take a stance against the Thabo
Mbeki establishment.

One, was the attempt to block the deputy president from ascending to the
position of the president,
Two, the third term phenomenon,
Three, the use of state security apparatus to discredit individuals and
to fight factional battles in the ANC, and lastly
The erosion of the role of the ANC as the strategic centre of power.

History has got a tendency of repeating itself, as today we are
confronted with exactly the four disturbing trends in their worst form.
Once again, there are tendencies to try and block a deserving and capable
deputy President from becoming the President. Once again comrades, there
are tendencies to introduce a disguised third term through   crude
manipulation of gender struggles within the movement. We know of genuine
revolutionary efforts to emancipation the women of this country from
triple oppression. Nelson Mandela introduced the policy of 30%
representation of women and Thabo Mbeki increased it to 50%. These were
genuine efforts towards emancipation of women and not this classic
manipulation.

Once again, state security apparatus are hard at work to discredit those
who oppose the disguised third term attempt, we are not going to be
intimidated. Once again comrades, Luthuli House has been reduced to a
joke by the Gupta family and the beneficiaries of their largesse. The
Guptas are now the strategic centre of power. This goes against the
essence of the Polokwane Resolution and it vulgarises the ANC. Hence, as
the Northern Cape, we call for the arrest of the Guptas and their
acolytes.

Any hope to redeem the movement and to ensure that we recapture the
imaginations of the people of this country lies with comrade Cyril
Ramaphosa. Comrade Cyril was the General Secretary of the National Union
of Mineworkers and co-founder of COSATU. In 1991 he was elected the
Secretary General of the ANC and led with distinction the ANC team during
negotiations for the democratic South Africa. In 1994-1996 he was the
chairperson of the Constituent Assembly that produced the world renowned
democratic Constitution and in 2010 he was the Deputy Chairperson of the
National Planning Commission that developed the 2030 vision for South
Africa.

The project of transforming South Africa into a democratic, non-racial,
non-sexist and prosperous country is crafted in the sweat and capable
hands of comrade Cyril Ramaphosa. Today, there are very few living
leaders in the ANC that can claim such an extra-ordinary political
craftsmanship. This prompted Nelson Mandela in 1996 when reflecting on
the work of the Constituent Assembly to say that 'comrade Cyril is one of
the most capable leaders of the ANC, in him I have full confidence. The
future of the ANC will always be bright in the capable hands of such
young, brilliant comrades'.

As the Northern Cape we should be part of realizing this prophetic
assertion by Nelson Mandela, by protecting our movement and intensifying
our support for comrade Cyril Ramaphosa. We must protect the movement
against the Gupta family, as everything that they put their corrosive
hands on is destined for a dustbin, Eskom, SAA, Bell Pottinger, PWC are
classical examples. Comrades, we don't want our glorious movement to be
thrown into a dustbin of history. We will have to wage a Stalingrad
battle to save our movement against a disguised third term that seeks to
hand over the ANC to the Guptas. Therefore:

We will engage and defeat the corrupt Gupta Stormtroppers in the Northern
Cape in a hand to hand political combat,
We will engage and defeat them in a street to street political combat,
We will engage and defeat them in a corner to corner political combat,
We will engage and defeat them in a house to house political combat, and
We will engage and defeat them everywhere.

The time to reclaim the glory of our movement is now and that should
start with the Northern Cape, we invite all ANC members to be part of
this campaign.

Amandla.