If the tone set by the ANC Eastern Cape provincial policy conference on Sunday is anything to go by‚ the province is emerging as a strong anti-Zuma bloc.

Following President Jacob Zuma’s 11th-hour cancellation of his commitment to give the national executive committee’s (NEC) political input at the gathering in East London‚ his stand-in‚ NEC member Fikile Xasa‚ pulled no punches against the “Guptas and their friends”‚ calling for their isolation in the party.

No reason was given for Zuma’s no-show.

Zuma has not appeared at any ANC event of provincial significance in the Eastern Cape this year. His deputy‚ Cyril Ramaphosa‚ addressed the January 8 anniversary celebrations in Mthatha.

However‚ Zuma addressed two regional elective conferences in March – one in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and the other in Amathole‚ where his known loyalists had emerged victorious.

Xasa‚ addressing hundreds of hyped-up delegates‚ said it was unfortunate that the people of South Africa had voted the ANC into power yet it seemed that the role had now been assumed by the Guptas.

Full story in the Daily Dispatch