mg.co.za/.../2013-02-22-00-why-cyril-ramaphosa... So ZANC instead of focusing in the development of our country, they commit themselves in useless ANC 20 year stabbing each others back plan? We really need the coming of Jesus tommorrow. Mail & Guardian News Opinion Business Arts & Culture Education Sci-Tech Multimedia Special Reports In The Paper zapiro Partners News National Africa World Environment Sport Health Data Amabhungane National Why Cyril Ramaphosa wont be ANC king 22 Feb 2013 00:00Matuma Letsoalo, Mmanaledi Mataboge KwaZulu-Natal Jacob Zuma supporters say the ANCs deputy president cannot be trusted not to reopen the corruption probe. Senior ANC leaders say there is no guarantee that Jacob Zuma will appoint Cyril Ramaphosa his deputy in government. (Delwyn Verasamy, M&G) Cyril Ramaphosa will not succeed Jacob Zuma if the current presidents supporters in KwaZulu-Natal have their way. Barely two months after the ANCs conference in Mangaung, a caucus of Zumas supporters in KwaZulu-Natal have already started informal lobbying to have former home affairs minister and current African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma succeed Zuma instead of ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa. Zuma, who overwhelmingly defeated Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to retain the party presidency in December, made it clear in a recent interview with the SABC that he would not stand for a third term as ANC president. But political observers both in and out of the party believe he plans to anoint a successor. Until recently, Ramaphosa, a former unionist turned businessman, was seen as the automatic choice for the partys hot seat. However, the Mail & Guardian has established that Zumas supporters are planning that his ex-wife, Dlamini-Zuma, replace him, as they do not fully trust Ramaphosa. Motlanthe was the first ANC deputy president since 1994 not to be elected ANC president. The move to elevate Dlamini-Zuma to the ANCs top job was confirmed by eight senior ANC leaders who spoke to the M&G this week on condition of anonymity. The plan was never to have Ramaphosa as ANC president. He was never an ultimate choice. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time. He was invited to fill the space in Mangaung only after Kgalema Motlanthe turned them [Zuma supporters] down and contested Zuma for the position of president. To them, he [Ramaphosa] remains an invitee, said a senior party leader in Gauteng. Although Ramaphosa appeals to both labour and business, Zumas supporters are worried that he cannot be trusted not to reopen the corruption investigation into Zuma. The 20-year plan They [Zuma supporters] cant afford to take that risk. As things stand, it is not a given that the president will appoint Ramaphosa his deputy in government, said an ANC leader sympathetic to Zuma. He is even thinking about convincing Motlanthe to stay as the countrys deputy president beyond the 2014 elections. If he fails to convince Motlanthe, he will approach Baleka Mbete [ANC chairperson] or another senior female leader within the ANC to occupy the position until the party elects a new deputy president in 2017. Zumas supporters would then prefer KwaZulu-Natal premier and party treasurer Zweli Mkhize to take over the partys deputy presidency and would also like Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba to replace Gwede Mantashe as ANC secretary general. ANC insiders said this week Zuma supporters had drawn up a 20-year plan to draw leaders from KwaZulu-Natal to lead the ANC. Mkhize and Gigaba would be groomed for the partys top post after Dlamini-Zuma, according to the insiders. Although the province appears to be calling the shots now, its unity appears to be threatened by an internal leadership battle to replace Mkhize, the provincial chairperson. KwaZulu-Natal education MEC Senzo Mchunu and ANC deputy provincial chairperson Willies Mchunu are vying for the top provincial position. The ANC is scheduled to hold a provincial general council next month to elect a successor to Mkhize. The M&G understands that the leadership battle has caused serious tension between supporters of the two leading candidates. Asked to comment about the provinces 20-year plan to lead the ANC, Mantashe said: I cant comment on conspiracies. I am not from KZN. How am I supposed to know issues that are discussed there? This is not a formal ANC plan. I cant comment on it. KwaZulu-Natal ANC secretary Sihle Zikalala also denied the existence of a succession plan. Thats totally wrong. Its misleading. Its not worth commenting on. Not a new thing How do you think of such a thing? There is nothing of such [a] nature. We dont know about that [the 20- year plan]. It would be wrong to say this is KZNs time to lead the ANC. Even President Zuma is leading because he is acknowledged as the leader in the whole country. KZN alone would not have made him president, said Zikalala. However, two ANC provincial executive committee members, one from the Western Cape and the other from Limpopo, said in separate interviews this week that they had been aware of the provinces plan since last year. This is not a new thing, said the Western Cape provincial executive member. It was raised prior to the ANC conference in Mangaung. The danger they [Zuma supporters] foresee is that if someone comes in [to lead ANC], there will be investigation into the corruption allegations against Zuma and the people close to him. If you look at how the ANCs national working committee is designed, you will realise it was done to ensure the success of the 20-year plan. Cyril and Gwede are going to be the first victims. It is no longer a secret that these people are using Cyril. He was never their candidate. He [Ramaphosa] must also be aware [of this], unless he is naive, the member said. Their [Zumas supporters] attitude is that KwaZulu-Natal should be consolidated. And in other provinces they want people they can control. Now, the move is to deal with Limpopo, Northern Cape, North West and Western Cape. In Gauteng, their strategy is to play the divide-and-rule game. They are going to make sure that they create tension between ANC chairman Paul Mashatile and provincial secretary David Makhura. Mpumalanga and Free State are the most corrupt provinces, but no one will touch them because they toe the line. Zwelis own circle A KwaZulu-Natal leader in the ANC-led alliance said the succession plan had come to the fore because some party leaders knew that Zuma would not be re-elected for another term. There are certain groupings with ambitions beyond Cyril and they are saying to Zweli: Prepare yourself to be the deputy president because age is on your side. The leader said this plan had been hatched by Zwelis own circle. I dont think there can be that kind of a bullying from the province. The leader said Ramaphosa was not resting on his laurels and continued to work on increasing his popularity in the ANC, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, which he visited frequently. The psychology of the people of KwaZulu-Natal is that when you are always with them, they support you, said the leader, who pointed out that electing another president from the province would risk raising the issue of tribal preference. Comrades in KwaZulu-Natal are sensitive about tribalism. Without it being said openly, this thing [tribalism] also becomes a factor and youre careful not to perpetuate that. As a cadre, you must always be sensitive to these things, otherwise youll create another Rwanda. The leader said the province had lost out on the opportunity to make Dlamini-Zuma deputy president in Mangaung last December. Too ambitious There is also an age issue. In politics, once you lose out on an opportunity, five years becomes a long time and you are unlikely to get that opportunity again. A Gauteng leader who knew only about a plan to make Mkhize deputy president said it was too ambitious of KwaZulu-Natal to come up with a succession plan. The leader alluded to the way power broking had changed since the ANC was unbanned in 1990. To say youve got a 20-year plan is not wise, because things change in the ANC, he said. The Gauteng leader said the problem with the KwaZulu-Natal plan was that it assumes that all other provinces are spectators. In the ANC, there is no province that can win the conference on its own. The assumption that you will have a 20-year plan and everyone will support you is [incorrect].
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 16:02:35 +0000
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