SOUTH AFRICA’S SPY MASTER

The day the president’s men nearly sank Cyril

Cyril Ramaphosa’s chances of winning the election for party president ahead of the ANC’s elective conference in 2017 were slim due to Jacob Zuma’s conniving – until David Mabuza jumped ship.

It is now emerging that Ramaphosa’s archrival, Zuma, had the ace: the spies of the State Security Agency (SSA). They were working against Ramaphosa and for Zuma and, by extension, his proxy, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

But the scheme failed because the focus was on Ramaphosa and no one in the Zuma camp, or the spies, imagined that Mabuza, a staunch Zuma-ite, would turn traitor overnight and join the other camp.

Had Mabuza, then Mpumalanga ANC chair and premier, not donated his loyal provincial votes to Ramaphosa at Nasrec, the latter could have lost to Dlamini-Zuma and the Zuma faction would have continued to reign.

Yet even though Ramaphosa won, uneasy is the head which wears the ANC crown – because the spies used by Zuma are still in place... and how loyal are they to the new ANC chief?

Since he took power as ANC and state president three years ago, Ramaphosa hasn’t been able to change that overnight. He is yet to make public, never mind implement the recommendations of the Sydney Mufamadi high-level panel probe into the unlawful activities of the state intelligence agencies during Zuma’s tenure.

Evidence given by current SSA acting director-general Loyiso Jafta and corroborated by SSA operatives at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, is that the agency supported and funded the Zuma faction within the ANC, against Ramaphosa and his faction.

So, Ramaphosa is still sitting on a factional powder keg.

Zuma’s last state security minister, Bongani Bongo, is presently an ANC MP and chair of the portfolio committee on home affairs while his predecessor, David Mahlobo, is Ramaphosa’s deputy minister of human settlements, water and sanitation.

In line with a Nasrec resolution to forge ANC unity, Ramaphosa kept Mahlobo in his government. Bongo, like several other Zuma-ites, was deployed by Luthuli

House to lead parliamentary committees.

The former ministers that Ramaphosa sidelined remained in the ANC national executive committee. But the likes of Nomvula Mokonyane, Malusi Gigaba and Bathabile Dlamini – and the entire radical economic transformation clique – are hovering around Luthuli House, regularly strategising with ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule.

Mahlobo, Bongo and Cwele were accused by a secret witness at the Zondo commission of having collapsed the SSA and turned it into Zuma’s private force that protected him and advanced his political interests.

With the SSA structure and leadership intact, danger still lurks for Ramaphosa. Although former SSA director-general Arthur Fraser was redeployed, his legacy remained in the intelligence body.

According to Jafta, Fraser became so powerful as SSA boss that he could have destabilised the country if he wanted to. Under his leadership, a separate unit was established to serve Zuma’s political interests.

Despite denials from Fraser’s lawyer, the allegations remain that SSA funds were unlawfully spent to keep Zuma in power while other monies disappeared. Zuma himself, his family and his cronies were allegedly directly bankrolled by the SSA ... as much as R4.5 million a month in the case of Zuma.

Ramaphosa, though triumphant at Nasrec, had only his capable team and despite not having illegal access to state coffers as did Zuma, still got private backing to fund his expensive campaign.

Now, Ramaphosa is riding the crest of a wave – politically. Several aspects had emboldened him and his handling of the fight against Covid-19 has endeared him to the population. As political analyst Zamikhaya Maseti said, the lockdown has humbled everyone, including his ANC opponents, to take instructions from him.

“Nobody now can stand up against Cyril, he has become the real commander-in-chief.”

Cyril has become the real commander-in-chief