Northern Cape strongman gives Cyril the nod
INFLUENTIAL Northern Cape ANC provincial secretary Zamani Saul is the latest politician to throw his weight behind Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed President Jacob Zuma.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Saul — a front-runner to replace convicted former provincial chairman John Block — made it clear that he did not agree with Zuma’s assertion that it was not ANC policy for a deputy to become president.
Saul’s endorsement of Ramaphosa is a boost for the deputy president’s campaign as Saul is expected to lead the Northern Cape delegation to the ANC elective conference in December.
Although the Northern Cape will send a relatively small delegation, Saul’s troops are expected to add to the numbers of those backing Ramaphosa.
“Historically, the general attitude of ANC members to their deputy president is that the deputy president should ascend and become the president,” said Saul.
“Oliver Tambo was the deputy and so was Nelson Mandela. Thabo Mbeki was deputy, and so was Jacob Zuma”.
This contrasts sharply with what Zuma said last month on SABC radio: that the ANC did not have a policy of auto- matically electing its serving deputy president to high office.
Zuma’s assertions have been interpreted as tacit endorsement of former AU Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the top post.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and ANC-aligned structures such as Cosatu have since publicly disagreed with Zuma, saying that party deputy presidents have always been elected into office with succession in mind.
Ramaphosa has the backing of Cosatu and the SACP.
His backers say he has significant support in ANC structures in Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Saul said he was not opposed to the idea of a woman president, but he agreed with ANC structures that had thrown their weight behind Ramaphosa.
“When a deputy president is elected, he is elected with a view to succession in mind, and that is the issue we’re dealing with,” he said.
Saul said he would accept nomination to stand for election as the next chairman of the ANC in the Northern Cape at its provincial elective congress next month.
This position has been vacant since Block resigned in 2015 following his conviction for fraud and corruption related to government tenders worth nearly R100-million.
Saul said he was ready to take over as provincial chairman, having been elected to the provincial executive committee at the age of only 26 in 1998, before serving two terms as provincial secretary, from 2008 until now.
“If I get nominated to be chair of the ANC, I would obviously accept it. It’s a position I’m ready for.
“I grew up in the ranks of the movement, starting from [student organisations] Cosas and Sasco, and radicalised by the [ANC Youth League].”
He is expected to be challenged for the position by Northern Cape premier Sylvia Lucas.
A deputy is elected with succession in mind