The opening salvos for the race to be the next ANC president were fired over the weekend when party veteran Lindiwe Sisulu appeared to publish an opinion piece blatantly attacking our laws and judges, and throwing her name into the ring as the potential candidate for the radical economic transformation (RET) wing of the ANC.
In December, the ANC will elect its top six and national executive committee to lead the party for the next five years and indeed into the 2024 national elections. Current party and state president, Cyril Ramaphosa will be vying for a second term and hoping to win a more secure mandate than he did at the 2017 national conference, where he won by just 179 votes, defeating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
News24 spoke to political analysts to get their views as to whether Ramaphosa would be able to cling onto the ANC presidency (for subscribers) or relinquish it to someone else.
Ralph Mathekga doesn’t believe that Lindiwe Sisulu is distinctly in the mould of the RET faction, but he doesn’t see her as someone completely behind a Ramaphosa presidency either.
While Daniel Silke doesn’t believe Sisulu commands any real support within the party to be any real challenger to Ramaphosa and sees her as testing the waters to see if there is a “critical mass” that would be willing to throw its weight behind her candidacy.
To remain in power, Ramaphosa will have to juggle the various factions, see what the fallout will be from the ongoing sagas surrounding Jacob Zuma and suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, and what the repercussions of the State Capture report will look like all before getting to the end of the year. Never mind, he has a country to run.
Mathekga believes it will be difficult for Ramaphosa to win a second term as even Zuma faced a fight to gain a second term when he faced a challenge from his deputy president in 2012, Kgalema Motlanthe. But Silke doesn’t think there will be enough sway to push Ramaphosa out of power.
Whoever emerges victorious in December will be the party candidate for president of the country at the national elections in 2024, but Andile Ntingi writes that if the ANC is ousted from government in 2024, which is looking increasingly likely after their poor performance in last year’s local government elections, it could put its investment-deterring policies at risk.
Ntingi writes, “…these policies (along with poor governance and general policy uncertainty) are seen by investors as making SA less attractive as an investment destination. Corporates are reportedly hoarding more than R1-trillion in cash, which could be poured into the economy to ignite growth and employment.”
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
OPINION | Palesa Morudu: Time for a permanent holiday for the minister of tourism, Lindiwe Sisulu – News24
The RET faction wants total control of everything in the state and society, as an end in itself – Daily Maverick
TONY LEON | Fire them! Why spineless Cyril is to blame for the parliament blaze – Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
EDITORIAL | Zondo report is key to rooting out the rot inside and out – Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
Jabulani Sikhakhane | What does ‘irregular expenditure’ really mean? Zondo stirs debate – Fin24 (for subscribers)
How bosses earning big bucks is behind SA’s economic malaise – Business Day
Image: GCIS
