ANC follows protocol

You can’t fault the ANC for trying to do things by the book. The party’s leadership wants President Jacob Zuma to voluntarily step down. He is at the centre of a vast network of conspiracy and corruption, which has been allowed to infest and infect the state. It is therefore right that he resigns. If he does so, it would ensure a smooth transfer of power.

Cyril Ramaphosa is most certainly not illinformed or lacking a strategy. He surely would have known that Zuma would never step aside because it was the right thing to do. Zuma feels he has done nothing wrong. His arrogance is boundless. Constitutionally, Zuma still has another year left on his presidential term. Removing him, as was the case when Thabo Mbeki was recalled, further confuses the lines between party and state. The president is deployed by the ANC, but the party cannot prevent him from fulfilling his constitutional duties.

The only way the ANC can remove Zuma is through parliamentary action. However, there is no clear succession plan. The accepted thinking is that Ramaphosa would become president, but some could argue that a transitional “unity” candidate would be better, as was the case when Mbeki was removed and Kgalema Motlanthe took his place.

One hopes that Ramaphosa factored all of this into his planning, otherwise we are in for a very long 2018. The “Cyril spring” will pass quickly and leave us with hollow promises of a new beginning.

Neil Achary

London