Former presidents give Ramaphosa an F
If President Cyril Ramaphosa was closely following the news this weekend, he would have had reason to feel he was isolated and out in the cold. He would have felt, even, that the universe was against him. All three of his living predecessors — Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma — were out expressing their disapproval of the state of affairs under the Ramaphosa administration. To conspiracy theorists it probably looked like a well co-ordinated campaign — three former heads of state speaking out on the same weekend, just weeks before the ANC holds its elective conference at which the president will seek a second term.
A ruling party supporter on social media speculated, jokingly of course, that Nelson Mandela was also probably addressing the ANC branch in heaven about the state of the party and its government under Ramaphosa.
But there is no conspiracy or ganging up against the sitting head of state.
Mbeki has been consistent in his critique of the ANC’s so-called renewal project and most of what he touched on at the Strategic Dialogue Group yesterday are issues he has been talking about ever since he lifted his self-imposed exile from the ANC and its activities.
The difference is that whereas in the past he seemed to believe that Ramaphosa needed to be supported in leading the renewal process and the rebuilding of the state’s capacity, he now has doubts whether the president will be around much longer given the serious threat of impeachment he faces over the Phala Phala saga.
If the independent panel appointed by parliament recently decides that the impeachment process should start, Mbeki believes, the ANC may be forced to ask Ramaphosa to step aside — hence preventing him from standing for re-election in December.
The panel, which started its work last Wednesday, has 30 days to conclude its investigation.
“What happens if they say he has got a case to answer?” asked Mbeki. He seemed unconvinced by the other ANC leaders raising their hands for the presidency and other top ANC positions ahead of December, saying they will not help the renewal agenda.
“When you talk renewal of the ANC, you are carrying too much baggage of wrong people. You have to have the courage to face that you have a renewed ANC led by criminals.”
As Mbeki was speaking in Johannesburg, a group of local and international academics, intellectuals, policymakers and thought leaders were gathered in the Drakensberg for this year’s Inclusive Growth Dialogue organised by the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation.
On the opening day of the gathering Motlanthe — who became the country’s president in 2008 when Mbeki was recalled and stepped down a year later following Zuma’s election — steered clear of commenting about the incumbent’s leadership style but his warning that South Africa was on the precipice and urgently needed new ideas and change told it all.
His statement that “the task of political radicals is to get to the point where they become no longer necessary” will not go down well with ANC faithful who believe in the “glorious movement’s” divine right to rule until the Second Coming.
Ramaphosa has reason to worry that Mbeki and Motlanthe, who were consistent in speaking out against ANC moral decay during the last days and months of the Zuma years, sound not convinced by his ability to turn things around.
What is unlikely to worry him, however, is the blistering attack launched by Zuma against him.
The full reasons for Zuma’s weird press conference yesterday are likely to become clearer as the week progresses. But it does appear that they partly have to do with the upcoming conference and the fact that his comeback campaign — either as national chairperson or even president — is failing to launch even in KwaZuluNatal, a province once taken for granted as his stomping ground.
The presser seems to have been convened to ensure that his name is uppermost in ANC members’ minds as they hold branch general meetings, where they are officially nominating their preferred candidates.
It also gave the impression that the former president is worried that, despite Ramaphosa’s personal troubles and his government’s failure to deliver reliable electricity, water and other services, he could still retain his post come December.
But whether Ramaphosa goes or stays now matters only to Zuma and others who have a political axe to grind. For the rest of the country it is becoming clearer that whatever the outcome in Nasrec this December, very little will change.
How we safely pull away from the precipice Motlanthe spoke about on Friday is no longer dependent on delegates at the December conference — they are too obsessed with leadership squabbles to notice the dangers we face.