New ANC leader in KZN backs Cyril for president -- sort of
IF newly appointed KwaZulu-Natal ANC chairman Sihle Zikalala has his way, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will succeed President Jacob Zuma — in keeping with ANC tradition and to avoid two centres of power.
“There is nothing wrong with Cyril and I still maintain that view . . . that a deputy president should be the president of the country. Guided by that principle the debate should be how we move forward,” he said.
However, Zikalala added a quick qualification: the succession tradition should not necessarily trump moves to elect a woman president.
Zikalala said his stance on “one centre of power” — the concept that the president of the country and the president of the ANC should be the same person — had not changed since he proclaimed it eight years ago during the campaign to propel Zuma to the presidency.
“[But now] some are saying we never had a woman president, therefore let’s look also into that principle of gender parity, and that’s why I’m saying that going forward we should have good arguments politically, and they must be principled, not opportunistic,” he said, apparently seeking to hedge his bets between Ramaphosa and AU Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
The ANC has never had a woman president, deputy president or secretary-general in its 103-year history.
Zuma’s second term as party president ends in 2017. He is allowed to stand for another term as ANC leader.
South Africa’s constitution, however, bars him from standing for a third term as head of state when his current term ends in 2019.
Zikalala defeated KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu last week to become chair of the ruling party’s biggest and most influential province.
Zikalala said the ANC faced a dilemma in trying to strike a balance between the succession tradition and promoting gender equality.
He said it was important to carefully manage the succession without alienating anyone, citing the 2007 ANC conference in which some members of the defeated faction either left the ANC or operated outside the organisation.
While Zikalala advocates the one-centre-of-power idea nationally, the outcome of his own provincial party conference created two centres of power.
He leads the party in KwaZuluNatal while Mchunu is premier.
But Zikalala said the ANC never had any issue with two centres of power at provincial or local government level.