POLITICAL NEWS - President Cyril Ramaphosa may want to be released from his top position at the ANC in the run-up to this year’s ANC national general council (NGC), but his supporters want to have none of it.

According to well-placed ANC sources, the president planned to voluntarily resign after last weekend’s G20 summit, a move that caught the party by surprise and unprepared.

His supporters opposed the decision as they feared his sudden departure would not only cause the party to flounder, but would leave his loyalists in limbo.

Ramaphosa’s allies pushed back against his plan to resign – insider

“There is fear that without Cyril, the party’s performance would even worsen next year [in the local government election] because, rightly or wrongly, that would be perceived by the electorate as an existence of infighting within the ANC.

“Voters don’t like a party that has leadership squabbles; they retreat by either staying at home or voting for other parties. That is not what we want,” the source said.

They would like to see him make history by breaking the trend where ANC presidents are recalled before finishing their terms of office. Both former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma were recalled but the ANC wants this to stop as part of its renewal.

However, Ramaphosa’s opponents in the party would like him to step down or be removed at the NGC next month so that the ANC January 8th statement is delivered by another leader.

Opponents want CR to step down or be removed at the NGC

The source said a few members suggested the entire national executive committee should be dissolved and an interim national task team appointed with a new leader or convener and a coordinator, or secretary, at the helm.

However, the NGC is not a platform to elect leadership.

Unlike the national conference, which is the party’s highest decision-making body attended by branches and other structures, the NGC is a mid-term conference where the party reviews progress in policy implementation and provides a way forward for the party and country.

The ANC had been underperforming in the polls since the 2009 election, after Zuma was elected at the tumultuous Polokwane national conference in late 2007.

Ramaphosa’s entrance has not helped the party’s fortunes and, instead, it dropped dramatically from 57% in 2019 to 40% in last year’s national election.

ANC will slump further in future polls – political analyst

Political analyst Prof Ntsikelelo Breakfast, who was one of the experts who correctly predicted that the ANC electoral performance would fall in May last year, said the ANC would not make it this time around; instead, it would slump further in future polls.

Although the debate over Ramaphosa’s successor is not yet in full swing, another high-level party source said there was a general consensus that deputy president Paul Mashatile was not a suitable candidate for the presidency due to his many alleged graft scandals.

“You would rather have the devil you know than the one you don’t know. People are used to Cyril… we need someone who will elevate the ANC, not someone who will bring it further down,” the source said.

Presently, there is no certainty about the next president. But some have touted party national chair Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, while others even mentioned Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi.

The party’s first deputy secretary-general, Nomvula Mokonyane, has already indicated that she would contest the position while former minister Naledi Pandor has not been ruled out.

G20 success in Ramaphosa’s favour

In the last several party elections, the position was contested by three candidates with a maximum of six recorded in the past, but some often either withdraw or fall by the wayside due to lack of nomination support.

But aspects that favour Ramaphosa’s stay include his recent successful hosting of the G20 summit and its decisions that favoured the global south and Africa in particular.

The president was praised internally and externally for the way he handled the summit.

Ramaphosa was also credited for bringing stability to the government of national unity. Many ANC members feared it would collapse without Ramaphosa.

Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen

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