Lamola backs Cyril’s second term
JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC), National Executive Committee (NEC) member and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has thrown his weight behind Cyril Ramaphosa serving a second term as party president post the 2022 Elective Conference.
The governing party is due to hold its national conference in December this year, with some party members such as the Premier of Limpopo Stan Mathabata already having proclaimed that Ramaphosa should continue in his current role.
Such pronouncements have been seen by some in the party as evidence of ill-discipline as no official processes for leadership by the branches have begun. This is how Lamola responded when pressed on whether Ramaphosa deserves a second term, during an SABC exclusive interview.
“I think he does, but I would prefer the process unfold as it should in the processes of the organisation. But we do need stability and continuity.”
Meanwhile, political analyst Enoch Maponya said the premature endorsements of the candidates could have political repercussions.
“It is better for members of the ANC to wait until the party allows them to start campaigning for their candidates. This pre-mature announcement is a ploy to apply for jobs under Cyril Ramaphosa. If it happens that the candidate concerned does not win, the winning candidate will find it difficult to accommodate them in the new structure, like Cabinet, and so on.”
“We saw this in 2017, after structures like the ANC Youth League, the Women’s League, MKVA loudly started canvassing for Nkosazana Zuma and when she didn’t win, some of them, if not most, have not been accommodated in the new structure under Cyril Ramaphosa.”
The ANC in Vhembe and Sekhukhune regions have also thrown their weight behind Ramaphosa for the second term.
Lamola said that more young people needed to be at the helm of the governing party. Quizzed whether he would be interested in running for Deputy President of the ANC at the national conference scheduled at the end of 2022, Lamola said that decision would be based on the party structures, but emphasised that new blood was required to renew the organisation.