VIDEO: ANC PRESIDENT, CYRIL RAMAPHOSA TAKES JABS AT SA PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA

In his maiden speech as the new ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa had a few words for his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.

His speech at the Nasrec centre during the party's national conference in the early hours of Thursday morning, to an auditorium containing many empty seats, especially those of his opponent, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Ramaphosa went on the attack, alluding to the fact that under his administration the ANC would not be a party of words but a party of action.

"Those who are deployed by our movement should always be a source of pride and not a source of embarrassment. They are deployed so that they can bring us closer to the national democratic society to which we aspire," he said.

He also took a jab at the controversial state capture without mentioning it by name, saying he intended to eradicate corruption. He said that the conference "dealt with difficulties brought by individuals through the exercise of influence and manipulation of governance," which led to the weakening of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

"We are going to revamp our SOEs. Given all these challenges, we are called upon to act against corruption. We are also called upon to act against collusion and other economic crimes prevalent in both public sector, as well as the private sector."

As the ANC decided to give its integrity commission more control to make binding decisions by ensuring its independence, he said the actions of comrades deployed in government should "always be informed by the interests of its members and not by personal interests."

After Ramaphosa's attack on Zuma, he then praised Zuma for his work on HIV/Aids, his story-telling skills, and that he'd miss Zuma during meetings, especially for also bringing sweets.

It's been predicted by analysts that the next few months, possibly to the end of Zuma's term in two years time, is going to be tense between Zuma as president of South Africa, and Ramaphosa who now leads the ANC.

Watch Cyril Ramaphosa's full speech in the video below: