The conference was a precursor to the general election of 2009, which the ANC was extremely likely to win and which did indeed lead to Zuma's ascension to the presidency of South Africa.

Held on the Mankweng campus of the University of Limpopo,[1] attended by 4,000 delegates,[2] and often known simply as "Polokwane," the conference is frequently described as a watershed moment in post-apartheid South African politics.

[3][4][5] Zuma's challenge to Mbeki's incumbency resulted in the party's first contested presidential election since 1952,[6][7] and it led to the first major split in the ANC since its unbanning in 1990.

Zuma's campaign had strong support in his home province, KwaZulu-Natal, among ethnic Zulus – Mbeki, like his predecessor Nelson Mandela, was a Xhosa-speaker from the Eastern Cape.

At the time, the SACP and COSATU had extremely poor relationships with Mbeki, objecting especially to his "neoliberal" economic policies and the centralised nature of his administration.

[1] Other politicians who are thought to have supported Zuma's campaign include Siphiwe Nyanda, Julius Malema, and Bathabile Dlamini of the ANC Women's League.

[citation needed] Media interest in the campaign was high, and, given the controversy around both Mbeki and Zuma's candidacies, there was substantial speculation about potential "compromise candidates."

[30] The following ten candidates received the most votes:[31] Though enlarged, the NEC as constituted at Polokwane had dropped several former (and longstanding) members, many of whom were considered Mbeki allies.

Director-General in the Presidency Frank Chikane and ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama did not receive enough votes for re-election; nor did Aziz Pahad, Dipuo Peters, Frene Ginwala, Popo Molefe, and Saki Macozoma.

Notably, no fewer than eleven members of Mbeki's cabinet were among those removed from the NEC: Ministers Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, Terror Lekota, Ronnie Kasrils, Membathisi Mdladlana, Sydney Mufamadi, Alec Erwin, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Thoko Didiza, Charles Nqakula, and Essop Pahad, as well as national Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka, all failed to gain re-election.

[21] The Eastern Cape branch also moved that the Youth League (68 delegates) should be disqualified on the grounds that it had not held its annual congress, but the motion was defeated.

[9] Mbeki's term as national President was due to expire in April 2009 after the general elections, but the conference outcomes fostered speculation that he would resign or be pushed out sooner.

Nicholson's judgement was later overturned, but the Polokwane-elected NEC immediately called a special meeting and decided after 14 hours of debate that Mbeki should leave his office.

[40] In response to Polokwane and to Mbeki's "recall," a group of pro-Mbeki ANC members broke away and in November 2008 announced the foundation of a new political party, the Congress of the People (COPE).

They were led by former Defence Minister (and two-term ANC Chairperson) Terror Lekota and former Gauteng Premier Sam Shilowa, both of whom had been influential in the anti-apartheid struggle but had failed to gain election to the NEC at Polokwane.

[5][41][42] In the 2009 general elections, COPE won 7.42% of the national vote and 30 parliamentary seats, becoming the second largest opposition party less than six months after its establishment.