Daily Dispatch

Ramaphosa’s methodical approach will neutralise Zuma’s remaining arsenal and it may be the right one to take under the circumstances of an ANC party fractious and as divisive as ever

REMOVING President Jacob Zuma was never going to be easy. Power has become like oxygen to him; the look on his face when Cyril Ramaphosa was announced as party president at the ANC conference in Nasrec spoke volumes.

It was an expression and anger.

One only has to look at Zuma’s track record over the past decade and a half to understand the phrase in Ramaphosa’s statement on Wednesday: “This is a challenging time for our country.”

Indeed it is. Zuma has not acknowledged his wrongdoing, nor will he, which is why he told the ANC’s national officials last Sunday that he felt he had done nothing to warrant his removal from office prematurely.

His posture and attitude towards the many crises wrought by his presidency indicates that his removal cannot be rushed, sealed and delivered without following the arduous route Ramaphosa has chosen. His reaction to the Nkandla scandal swivelled from “I paid for my own house” to “I did not ask for it” – referring to the estimated R246-million upgrades that were bankrolled by the fiscus.

Justifying his removal of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister, which caused R90-billion in government pension funds to go down the drain, Zuma said

Des van Rooyen was the most qualified finance minister he had ever appointed. Whether true or not, the motive for Van

Rooyen’s appointment was not that he was more of disbelief recommendations to acknowledging that they were binding.

From appointing Van Rooyen, the “most qualified” finance minister, to reappointing Pravin Gordhan.

From defending a decision by the National Prosecuting Authority to drop corruption, fraud and racketeering charges against him for almost a decade, to admitting to the Supreme Court of Appeal that it was indeed irrational.

Zuma made another 11th-hour about-turn during his legal challenge to Thuli Madonsela’s state capture report, when he abandoned his bid to have the investigation referred back to the public protector.

While there is frustration and befuddlement at the way Zuma’s exit is being handled, it is understandable. In every contentious situation he has faced as president, he has sought to create the maximum degree of anxiety and uncertainty, for it is under these conditions that he thrives.

Ramaphosa’s almost annoyingly methodical approach counters this. It is this approach that will neutralise Zuma’s remaining arsenal – his supporters in the ANC top six leaders and in the rest of the NEC.

Even at the final hour, Zuma’s conduct is predictable. But rest easy. He resists, but in the end he always concedes.

Natasha Marrian is political editor of Business Day