Ramaphosa’s hard work starts
THOUSANDS of ANC members and supporters travelled from all corners of the country to celebrate the ANC’s 106th birthday and to listen to their newlyelected leader, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The streets of East London popped in colours of black, green and yellow as the ruling party sent out ANC-branded vehicles to mobilise for the big event while ministers and deputy ministers criss-crossed the province to speak to residents on the ground.
Early on Saturday morning, hordes of supporters clad in bright yellow T-shirts made their way to the stadiums where Ramaphosa shared his vision of restoring the ANC to its former glory. The mood inBuffalo City Metro was a jovial one as many celebrated the anniversary milestone of the former liberation movement.
But now that the cake has been cut and the festivities are over, so begins the backbreaking work that has come to be expected of the person leading the country’s most powerful political party. And if reports in the Sunday Times yesterday are anything to go by, it would seem that Ramaphosa is not about to rest on his laurels.
According to the report, a “leadership transition” – which many believe to be a reference to the removal of Jacob Zuma as state president – is set to be discussed at a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee later this week. Also set to take centre stage at the meeting is the removal of the disgraced head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Shaun Abrahams.
Deliberation on Abrahams’s future was something that could not have been avoided for much longer. Last year, the courts declared his appointment as the National Director of Public Prosecutions as unlawful, and that he should vacate the position. The courts also said that the deputy president of the country, Ramaphosa, should appoint a new head for the NPA.
Despite having an axe hanging over his head, the Sunday Times reported that Abrahams had allegedly refused to pursue several cases presented to him by prosecutors – a move that ultimately flies in the face of Ramaphosa’s seemingly unyielding stance on fighting corruption and state capture.
In what is known as the January 8 Statement, Ramaphosa in his inaugural address at the weekend called on more coordinated anti-corruption efforts to deal with the loss of billions of rand due to state capture.
He called for urgent and decisive action, not only to improve governance, but to restore the country’s financially troubled stateowned enterprises, and get them back to being “drivers of economic growth and development”.
Unity again featured prominently in Ramaphosa’s speech, with him going as far as to say that anyone who undermined such – regardless of their seniority – would be dealt with by Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters.
The road ahead will be an uphill climb for the new ANC president and his top five, particularly with the national general elections coming up next year. For now, party members and citizens remain cautiously optimistic of a change for the better. But voters won’t always be forgiving when politicians do not act on their promises.