Ramaphosa succeeds in annoying his backers
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has angered some of his own backers by outlining his preferred leadership team ahead of the ANC’s elective conference in December.
Ramaphosa’s campaigners in some ANC structures were taken aback by the move on Sunday. Even though his line-up was well-known, Ramaphosa’s announcement of the slate caught them by surprise and caused some discomfort.
The slate included current secretary-general Gwede Mantashe as chairman, Gauteng chairman Paul Mashatile as treasurer-general and his ally in KwaZulu-Natal, Senzo Mchunu, as secretary-general. Ramaphosa did not name a candidate for the post of deputy secretary-general.
In naming his preferred team, Ramaphosa was slapped down by Mantashe, who berated him for “usurping” the rights of branches to select their preferred candidates.
It comes at a time when Ramaphosa’s main rival in the race for the ANC presidency, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, is embroiled in a scandal over the financing of her bid. A Sunday Times report on Sunday linked her financial backing to tobacco smuggler Andrew Mazzotti, a charge she has since denied as a smear campaign by her opponents.
Ramaphosa’s naming of his preferred team is likely to have been meant as a strategic move reflecting the current mood in SA and the ANC. It was both unorthodox and risky as the ANC has long bemoaned the effect of “slate politics”.
Mantashe’s statement complained that “pronouncing on and circulating slates” may be seen to “undermine the ANC branches’ inalienable right to select candidates”.
But Ramaphosa was doing publicly exactly what was happening behind the scenes in the party’s run-up to the December conference. Slates are being circulated on a daily basis as leaders strike deals on who would form part of their leadership teams.
Insiders who supported Ramaphosa naming his team said “everything happening now” was unorthodox. They said the situation in the party as it stood required “visionary leadership”, people who were willing to do things differently.
In rolling out his team, Ramaphosa also seemed to be drumming home a message about the considerable political baggage in the campaign of Dlamini-Zuma.
His pick of Naledi Pandor as his deputy was likely designed to boost the perception that his slate contains individuals who are “clean” and untainted by corruption allegations.
The message was also designed to speak beyond ANC branch members to South Africans generally, ahead of them casting votes in 2019.
Dlamini-Zuma’s slate contains Mpumalanga chairman David Mabuza as deputy president, a man who Ramaphosa backers view as part of the corrupt leadership currently in charge of the party.
Whether ANC structures will look favourably on Ramaphosa’s risky move remains to be seen. It is also likely that Pandor may not eventually end up as his deputy as lobbying and horse-trading continue in the run-up to the conference.
Pandor was among the first names to emerge as a potential deputy in the early days of the succession battle, but Ramaphosa has been through a string of potential deputies already.
Pandor’s name disappeared from his slate as ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize emerged as a possible deputy to Ramaphosa.
Mkhize, it was believed, would bring a significant portion of KwaZuluNatal along with pockets of branches in the Eastern Cape and a chunk of branches in Mpumalanga.
But Ramaphosa’s supporters in Cosatu, the South African Communist Party and some ANC structures were uncomfortable with Mkhize.
There was no formal agreement between the pair, but talk of Mkhize as a possible deputy dissipated slowly, culminating in him coming out as a possible presidential contender on his own. Lindiwe Sisulu then entered, and she is also now standing for the position of president.
But much can still change between now and the December conference.
MarrianN@businesslive.co.za