All bets are off for December

IF YOU think you can predict who will take over as ANC president in December, think again. Even those closest to the ruling party and the SA Communist Party don’t seem to know for sure. How else do you explain the SACP’s resolution at the recent 14th national congress to contest future elections?

It reads: “After considerable debate at congress we have resolved that while the SACP will certainly contest elections, the exact modality in which we do so needs to be determined by way of a concrete analysis of the concrete reality and through the process of active engagement with worker and progressive formations.”

So, on one hand, the party says it will certainly contest elections, yet on the other hand, it’s not sure how. It would seem as though the SACP is hedging its bets. It will stick with the ANC if the ruling party elects Cyril Ramaphosa as its president in December.

But if he loses, the SACP would go it alone for the first time, probably with Ramaphosa as the face of its campaign.

A few days ago, Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu also joined the fray. She appealed to ANC branch delegates to use their conscience when voting for their leaders at the party’s upcoming national conference.

“Should anyone intimidate you for your choice of leaders, you have got the right to report that person to the disciplinary committee of the ANC,” she said.

In what is seen as the first step in her public campaign, Sisulu said she would stand against corruption.

But why now? Where has the minister been over the past few months, given the scathing allegations implicating the ruling party and the president?