Buoyed by his re-election as ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa has not wasted time, saying intensifying the fight against corruption and implementing the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme among items that are high on his agenda.
In an unprecedented move, the ruling party adjourned its 55th national elective conference, which was convened in Nasrec Expo Centre in Gauteng to January 5, to allow for, among others, sufficient time to deliberate on proposals to amend the party’s constitution.
It was expected that the five days political gathering would end on Tuesday, but ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe told delegates that the gathering will be adjourned because of certain loose ends that emanated in the commissions.
“There are many loose ends, and the steering committee has taken the decision that the conference will adjourn,” Mantashe told delegates.
Mpumalanga was the first province to support the report to postpone the conference, followed by the Northern Cape and Gauteng. The candidates vying for the party’s national executive committee, the highest decision-making body between conferences, will also have to wait until next month to find out whether they had made the cut to the 80-member committee.
When the conference reconvenes on the 5th of next month, it will convene virtually.
Ramaphosa also took to the podium and told delegates that his leadership will act decisively on corruption, also pushing hard for the acceleration of service delivery and implementing the much-anticipated NHI.
The NHI is a health financing system intended to ensure that the use of health services does not result in financial burden for the poor. When the government first proposed the plan in 2012, it said it will be implemented in phases over a 14-year period. But since then, there has not been much movement.
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