Is ANC preparing Gigaba for top spot?

One of the most worrying aspects about the ANC is its commitment to its traditions. In an organisation which is more than 100 years old, it is commendable that it respects its history ... but honouring traditions inflexibly is not something one expects from a ruling party in the rapidly changing 21st century.

One of the most disturbing traditions being continued today is the influence of the organisation’s youth league.

Many of the ANC’s leaders – including Nelson Mandela and OR Tambo – came from the league and since then, the organisation has been seen as the shortcut to power by the most ambitious within the ANC.

Many of these youth league leaders have clearly had their eyes on the main prize – the number one position in the ANC and the country. And, the organisation as a whole has often deferred to them because of their power. Look at Julius Malema, who established himself in the league through coercion and manipulation and then became such a powerful player.

One is forced to wonder if that awe of youth league leaders is the reason that another former youth supremo, Malusi Gigaba, has been allowed to get away with his antics for so long.

He has ducked and dived over the Gupta naturalisation, has been found to have lied in a High Court matter and was in on the ground floor of the state capture project, as public enterprises minister.

Perhaps, by keeping him in Cabinet, President Cyril Ramaphosa has been giving him enough rope to hang himself politically – and it looks as though he has been obliging.

However, what if the ANC is going easy on Gigaba because he has been earmarked as a successor to Ramaphosa one day?

That is a truly frightening prospect ...