Where is Ramaphosa?

DEAR SIR — With just few months before the upcoming general elections next year, the one person who was expected to help change the perception about the party’s leadership has been invisible in the major public spaces.

When Cyril Ramaphosa was elevated to be second in command of the African National Congress (ANC), his impressive track record as a unionist, ANC secretary-general and then a very successful businessman was touted as a recipe for success for the party. But it is worth noting that he was only elevated after Kgalema Motlanthe insisted on challenging President Jacob Zuma, rather than retain his deputy president position. Mr Ramaphosa was then seen as a natural replacement and a lot was expected from him.

He has not had any major effect since he was elected in December. Mr Ramaphosa has sold himself short within party structures and in the broader society at large.

Has Mr Ramaphosa been sidelined in the campaign trail ahead of elections, or he is merely playing it by ear and treading carefully lest he be seen to be undermining the president?

The question of who will be the country’s deputy president after next year’s election will determine who will likely be the frontrunner to replace Mr Zuma in 2017 as the party leader.

Mr Ramaphosa finds himself in a peculiar situation where his every move is scrutinised and he has to toe the line of those who co-opted him at the 11th hour at Mangaung.

He was brought in to shore up the battered reputation of the Zuma-led ANC, but to date he has not distinguished himself or made any telling changes to the battered image and credibility of the party leadership.

It’s time for good leaders such as Mr Ramaphosa to stand up and be counted — or be accused of having stood by and done nothing while the organisation suffered self-mutilation by the greedy and corrupt from within.

Kiekie Mboweni Nkowankowa