Cyril has put his foot in it

DEPUTY President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to announce the team he wants to lead the ANC 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 self-created 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.