Although President Jacob Zuma's name was not on the ballot paper, the outcome of the ANC presidential election can justifiably be seen as a vote of no confidence in him. Zuma had not made it a secret that he wanted former AU Commission head and ANC veteran Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as his successor. He openly campaigned for her, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, where the party faithful initially seemed to be vacillating between backing the president's ex-wife or his one-time best friend, Zweli Mkhize.
He also used his office to try to swing the mood in her favour. On the morning of the first day of the conference, he took everybody by surprise when he announced that access to higher education would be free to students from poor and working-class families from the beginning of next year. The timing of this populist announcement - populist because it was not supported by any plan of how it was to be financed - clearly showed that Zuma was looking to influence the way delegates were going to vote.
His plan failed and Cyril Ramaphosa is now the new ANC president...