WATCH: The day Fikile Mbalula made Patrice Motsepe sit down

By Marcus Moloko

History was made at the ANC National General Council in Boksburg this week – not in policy, not in speeches, but in the seating plan.

Business mogul Patrice Motsepe, a man so influential he probably has a chair reserved in every boardroom in Africa, was standing chatting to a delegate as the session got going.

As proceedings began, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula could be heard calling for quiet so the programme could continue. Then, armed with nothing but his booming voice and trademark confidence, Mbalula spotted Motsepe.

With the authority of a school principal catching a learner out of uniform, he boomed: “Mr Motsepe, please sit down!” drawing laughter from the room.

It