Cyril takes flack, won’t back down
ANC DEPUTY President Cyril Ramaphosa changed his tune yesterday after his unprecedented decision to announce a team he wants to lead the governing party with, saying the party’s branches still have the right to nominate their preferred candidates.
Ramaphosa’s statement was issued following a barrage of criticism from the party structures – the ANCYL and uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association.
Ramaphosa’s ally, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, was also forced to speak out against him.
In a surprise move on Sunday evening at a campaign rally in Sekhukhune, Limpopo, Ramaphosa unveiled national executive committee member and Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor as his deputy and former KwaZuluNatal ANC chairperson and premier, Senzo Mchunu, as secretary-general.
He also fielded Mantashe and the ANC’s Gauteng chairperson Paul Mashatile as national chairperson and treasurer-general, respectively, on his slate.
While Ramaphosa welcomed the criticism, he refused to back down or withdraw his slate.
“The names I mentioned for leadership positions arose from interactions and nominations emerging from ANC structures and should be understood in that context,” he said.
“The views I expressed are by no means prescriptive and do not displace the right of branches to nominate their preferred candidates for any position of the ANC leadership,” Ramaphosa pointed out.
A source close to Pandor told The Mercury that she welcomed the announcement.
“When the announcement was made she was in Jordan, and when she was told about it she said she was happily available.
“But she said this matter was subject to the ANC processes, and that this should be left to the ANC branches,” the source added.
Mantashe said Ramaphosa’s announcement undermined the right of branches to select candidates.
“Such pronouncements are unacceptable, whether comrades have a preference or not, and seek to usurp the entrenched right of the branches to nominate candidates of their choosing,” Mantashe said.
He added that the directive by the party’s national executive to ensure branch nominations are not tampered with, was part of doing away with slates.
But Ramaphosa’s campaigners in KZN welcomed Pandor as their preferred candidate as Ramaphosa’s deputy.
The slate had previously informally nominated Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as Ramaphosa’s deputy, but they ditched her after she said she preferred to be the president, instead of the deputy.
Ramaphosa’s KZN campaign spokesperson Sthembiso Mshengu said Ramaphosa and Pandor would work well together in the presidency.
“We are certain that they will make a very good combination,” he said.
Political analyst Professor Somadoda Fikeni said while Ramaphosa’s move may have been a blunder, it would have little impact on his campaign, as the race was already riddled with slates.
“Those who support him will be relieved now that he has come out, as they will know who to organise themselves around.
“But those belonging to other factions will attack him and accuse him of promoting factionalism,” Fikeni said.
Fikeni said the culture of insincerity in the application of party principles was not only confined to Ramaphosa, but a general challenge plaguing the governing party.
But Ramaphosa’s move could affect his bargaining power, as he has left out some key senior leaders, including ANC treasurer-general, Zweli Mkhize.
DEPUTY President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to announce the team he wants to lead the ANC with could have played straight into the hands of his detractors and weakened his presidential campaign. The serious blunder eats away at the credibility of his message to build unity in the ANC and fight corruption.
The politics of factionalism and slates has, by the party’s admission, pushed the organisation to its deathbed.
The ANC national general council took a resolution in 2015 to do away with the slates. Worse, the party’s policy conference in June highlighted the politics of factions and slates as one of the main contributing factors for the ANC’s woes.
As deputy president of an ailing liberation movement, Ramaphosa should have known that announcing a slate would have adverse results for his unity project. His actions will have ramifications beyond his campaign.
For many citizens, he could appear to be a skilled politician who speaks with a forked tongue – he preaches ANC unity while his actions are the opposite. It follows that questions will be asked about his commitment to deal with corruption.
Can Ramaphosa really deal with graft? Slates and factions breed a gang-like environment of protecting one another. Will he be able to tackle the leaders he has announced if it emerges that they are corrupt?
Under normal circumstances, his move should be welcomed. That is if he was leading a normal, modern party. But the reality is that he is leading a liberation movement beset by serious problems.
It is about time Ramaphosa walk the talk or risk winning the ANC race and losing the 2019 elections. South Africans are tired of rogue leaders who are indicating left and turning right. It is this hypocrisy that has led to the party’s electoral decline and loss of several metros.
If he is serious about renewing and uniting the ANC, he would do well to remember what the reasons were in the first place that led to the trust deficit between the citizens and his party. Lies, obfuscation, distortions and hypocrisy are some of the reasons the ANC finds itself where it is.
Ramaphosa has hit a selfcreated pothole that could have serious implications for his campaign. Perhaps even more devastatingly, his actions could cost him his credibility in the eyes of many.