PODCAST | Taking the Rams by the Horns: An ANC conference or a comedy?

"Was the recent ANC national conference about the Buffalo getting out of the quagmire of the Phala Phala? Was it about Mr 10% finally putting his Digital Vibes in the highest office of the land? Or, was it about women on top?"

These are the questions posed by Taking the Rams by the Horns podcast host Rams Mabote following the conclusion of the ANC's 55th national elective conference where the party's new leadership was elected.

For the first time in the history of the political movement, three women were elected in the top seven.

The conference which adjourned on Tuesday was not without drama. There were moments of anxiety , says President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya during an interview with Mabote.

Magwenya said scenes of the first day of the conference were disturbing because there were disruptions and interruptions.

He said Ramaphosa's concern was to deliver a successful conference.

Magwenya also responded to criticism on why he had attended the conference as well as accusations that Ramaphosa was blurring the roles of being party leader and state president.

Another guest Gauteng ANC provincial executive committee member political analyst Tessa Dooms described the conference as one of the most chaotic conferences in the history of the ANC.

She also chats about how ANC provincial structures ended up being divided and leaders contradicting each other at the party's 55th national conference.

She asks why would a delegate who got a mandate from their branch to vote for a specific candidate defy the instruction.

Dooms says she's concerned about the manner in which former president Jacob Zuma made his presence felt when he made a grand entrance which resulted in Ramaphosa momentarily pausing his speech, saying the party has always been an organisation of personalities.

She dishes out a behind-the-scenes take on what happened during the lobbying stages at the conference and what went wrong.

She also explains why it would be self-defeating to bet against newly-elected party deputy president Paul Mashatile and newly-elected first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane.

Taking the Rams by the Horns returns on January 12.