Ramaphosa needs to shine

WE have more than a year before the national elections. It is a lame duck period full of opportunity and anxiety. Anxiety because, in spite of the election of a new president for the ANC, we continue to have l’enfant terrible as president of the country, now using his waning powers to undermine the incoming president with new controversial policy suggestions.

It would of course, have been better if President Jacob Zuma had simply taken his graduation certificate and left the stage. Yet there is opportunity for the new ANC president – his election has been positively received across the political spectrum and civil society. This gives him a foundation to rebuild the ANC for the looming electoral battle of 2019 unencumbered by the duties of head of state.

There was a time when the outcome of an election in South Africa was predictable and the president of the ANC went on to be president of the country. But the recent gains by the opposition show the electorate is not to be taken for granted.

The stakes are higher for the ANC this time around. Nor will it be enough for the ANC to only win the elections. A two thirds majority is needed to overcome the increasing legal challenges from the opposition to the implementation of policy on infrastructure issues, such as nuclear energy.

To prepare the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa will have to start with the internal weaknesses. He will have to confront factionalism from the NEC down to the branches and mobilise the protest vote that sat out the last election. He might have to provide hands on leadership and political education to the branches and youth league to help focus them on mass mobilisation and recruitment and away from the negative habit of throwing stones at imaginary enemies because people differ with them.

Because state capture will be on the exam paper at election time it is also not too soon for the president to start scouting for new potential managers with proven competency to take over mismanaged state enterprises to stop the bleeding.

A clear, strong signal to the markets that change is on the way may help maintain the momentum and good will that Ramaphosa’s election has so far evoked in the economic sector.

Besides facing internal challenges, he will have to reach out to marginalised constituencies that feel excluded. People want their voices to be heard by those who wield power. The Western Cape, Nelson Mandela Bay and Gauteng once supported the ANC unconditionally. The new president will have to convince these communities that there is room for them under the ANC tent.

The emerging black middle class too is changing in its values and priorities. They complain of high taxes. We have created a consumer society that demands an economy that benefits the individual on the one hand, but is also socially responsive to the needs of the poor. They too will need a message different from the traditional staples of poverty eradication. So will the youth voting block with its concerns of unemployment and education and civil society which wants a clear message on fighting crime and corruption.

When the president speaks on January 13 he will address a nation hungry for positive news. This is not the time to sit and lick our wounds. It is time to remind the nation it is resilient, that, as Barrack Obama said, “Yes we can”.

We also hope Ramaphosa will announce a series of town hall meetings and street strolls to listen to citizens’ concerns, meet civil authority to clarify issues on ANC policy and invite them to help fight social ills. He cannot afford to stay in the shadows of a lame duck distracter. — Wongaletu Vanda, via e-mail