It was win some, lose some for Ramaphosa. While 'Taliban' politics failed to go viral, the SA Reserve Bank was flagged as a priority. The ANC closed what could be its final policy gathering as a majority party.

The ANC says that the nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) should be prioritised, but only at a reasonable pace, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa reported, as he closed the party's national policy conference today.

It was a win some, lose some conference for Ramaphosa, who started the meeting on the backfoot, but ended on his toes. The so-called "Taliban" faction, which won against his allies at the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) conference a week ago, failed to go viral at this weekend's policy conference.

KZN's new leadership, part of the radical economic transformation (RET) faction, arrived at the policy conference keen to overturn the step-aside rule. It says that cadres facing criminal charges must step aside from their roles. But they failed. This group brought the highest number of provincial delegates to the meeting.

If the step-aside rule change had succeeded, it would have allowed RET leaders such as suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, KZN strongwoman Zandile Gumede and Limpopo former treasurer Danny...