Chances slim of Ramaphosa axing Gordhan over load shedding
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa is stuck between a rock and a hard place as unions, political parties and broader society want Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to fall on his sword for being part of an Eskom grouping which allegedly misled the president on the status of load shedding.
Former Eskom chairperson Jabu Mabuza resigned on Friday for failing Eskom, and misinforming the president on load shedding.
Ramaphosa, according to experts, is now faced with the task of firing Gordhan, who was reportedly a central figure in helping him secure R1 billion in funding for his CR17 campaign, which led to him taking over the reins of the ANC at its 54th elective conference at Nasrec at the end of 2017.
The EFF, under Julius Malema, recently gave Ramaphosa an ultimatum to choose between Gordhan and the people of South Africa or face the wrath of the party at the State of the Nation Address (Sona) in Parliament.
Before the ANC’s 108th birthday celebrations in Kimberly on Saturday, Deputy President David Mabuza fired a salvo accusing Gordhan and the Eskom board of misleading Ramaphosa when they said that load shedding would resume only after January 13, after rolling blackouts earlier this month.
With the country now looking forward to Ramaphosa’s Sona and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Budget speech, in which they are both expected to announce future plans for the ailing power utility, the pressure is mounting on Ramaphosa to act swiftly on Gordhan.
Economist Dawie Roodt said that given Ramaphosa and Gordhan’s close relationship, he did not expect Ramaphosa to axe Gordhan.
“There’s a lot of opposition against him in the government, and I think Ramaphosa would like to keep people on his side in the Cabinet as much as he can, but I don’t think the president would want him (Gordhan) to go. I think he would like to see him stay,” Roodt said.
He added that Gordhan had not been a successful minister of Public Enterprises and that things had also not gone that well in his tenure as Finance minister, despite popular belief that he had done well there.
Following Mabuza’s resignation, labour federation Cosatu called for the dissolution of the entire Eskom board, with the union’s president Zingiswa
Losi saying workers were happy to see Mabuza leave the embattled power utility.
“It (his resignation) has come at the time we have been long calling for it. Since August, Cosatu has called for the entire board of Eskom to step down. We are saying to the rest of the board, do the honourable thing and tender your resignations and follow suit,” Losi said.
In a television interview, Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali also weighed in on the matter, saying that Eskom had failed dismally.
Some academics, such as Professor Boitumelo Senokoane of Unisa, are of the view that the influence of Gordhan on the president is too strong, meaning that in all likelihood,Ramaphosa, on top of the billion-rand fund-raising conundrum, would back Gordhan at all costs, even to the detriment of his political longevity.
Last year, it was revealed that Gordhan was at the centre of the fundraising of the CR17 campaign, which resulted in Ramaphosa being elected president of the ANC.
The CR17 campaign is the subject of an investigation for money laundering by public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
UWC’s Professor Bheki Mngomezulu said the president had said a lot but had done very little in practical terms of what he had been promising when it came to dealing with issues at Eskom.
“The president is between a rock and a hard place because he needs Gordhan, and Gordhan helped him raise funds for his election campaign.
“Remember that Gordhan presented himself as someone who is best placed to save the ailing stateowned enterprises. But problems in these institutions have escalated.
“We had stage 6 load shedding, which is unheard of. It is clear that there is no service being delivered.”
University of Zululand professor Sipho Seepe said he believed Ramaphosa owed Gordhan “big time”.