The ANC is finally in the position to pin down President Jacob Zuma and now has the ability to hold him accountable and recall him from office.

With Cyril Ramaphosa's election as ANC president, Zuma holds no position or authority in the party and therefore will cease to be as indomitable as he has been.

With its integrity commission being given binding powers by the party's 54th national conference, Zuma will no longer be able to dismiss the party's internal accountability mechanism and can face disciplinary action.

The ANC resolved that the new national executive committee (NEC) should "manage" the issue of two centres of power as Zuma is no longer the party president.

Presenting the conference resolutions to the media yesterday, Fikile Mbalula, head of the subcommittee on organisational renewal, said the ANC was the centre of power and would give direction and mandates to its deployees in the state.

This effectively means that Ramaphosa and the new NEC have authority over Zuma, and he is compelled to implement what they instruct him to do. If he fails to do so, they have the ability to recall him from office.

Mbalula said the resolution on the management of two centres of power did not automatically mean that a recall was in store. If the issue did come up, though, the new NEC of the party was empowered to recall him, as had been the case with Thabo Mbeki in 2008.

The party faced the dilemma of two centres of power after its 2007 conference in Polokwane when Zuma became the party leader while Mbeki was state president.

The situation now is even more difficult as Ramaphosa is Zuma's deputy in the state while holding political authority in the party.

Mbalula said the conference also resolved that there should be a cap on the number of NEC members serving in the state. This will improve accountability to the party.

This resolution reduces the president's hold on the NEC with so many of them beholden to him for their positions in cabinet.

Mbalula said the national conference resolved that a commission of inquiry into state capture, as recommended by the public protector and confirmed by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, needed to be appointed "expeditiously".

Zuma's failure to do this would mean that he was defying an ANC national conference resolution, providing grounds for a recall.