Justice Minister Ronald Lamola is 38 years old, which makes him the youngest member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet. The youthful cabinet minister has long been touted as one of the future leaders within the ANC and possibly even a future president of the country. There are early signs that he could even make a run for the party’s deputy presidency later this year at the ANC elective conference.
But who exactly is Ronald Lamola and if he were to come into a position of power would he affect change on the party and the country for the better? It’s a question that Sam Mkokeli delves into in his latest piece for Financial Mail.
Mkokeli writes that Lamola was a vocal and courageous opponent of Jacob Zuma during a time when it was difficult to take a stand against the former president with the likes of Cyril Ramaphosa happy to hitch his name to the Zuma ticket in the 2012 ANC presidency battle.
Lamola made a name for himself back then by supporting Zuma’s opponent, Kgalema Motlanthe, and he was one of the first to call on Zuma to resign in 2016 as the stench of State Capture began to waft across South Africa.
But Mkokeli contends that even if Lamola were to rise to the position of deputy president and then president of the ANC (as many deputies have done in the past) it would be difficult for him to bring about any meaningful change to the party as the rot has run deep.
“…even if Lamola were to succeed Ramaphosa, he is unlikely to make a difference. The ANC’s problems run deep, and its culture has become interwoven with corruption and sophistry.
In any event, the ANC is likely to fall below 50% in 2024, and will need a coalition partner to form a government. It may need to offer the country’s deputy presidency to the coalition partner. By the time Ramaphosa’s second term as SA president is over, in 2029, the ANC will probably have lost even more electoral support.”
But Lamola will gain some more clout following the recent spectacle that was the JSC hearings to find the next chief justice of the Constitutional Court, which included a shouting match with Julius Malema. The hearings will surely face a legal challenge in the coming weeks (for subscribers) for how they were conducted. What might count as a black mark against him is his silence on the Zuma parole saga and what role he played in the release.
As Mkokeli writes, the silence on Lamola’s part must mean he was fine with how the whole debacle played out. Still, Lamola has age on his side and the ANC desperately needs some young blood to save itself from the older generation who seem quite content to run it into the ground.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
Johann Kriegler | JSC’s ‘manipulation’ shouldn’t deter president from picking own Chief Justice – News24
Ralph Mathekga | Chief Justice appointment: An opportunity for Ramaphosa to shape ConCourt – News24 (for subscribers)
EDITORIAL | Another day, another damning report. Stop dilly-dallying, Cyril – Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
SELBY MAKGOTHO: Taxpayers fleeced during pandemic – Business Day
SONA 2022: Unleashing People’s Power will fix a Broken Nation – Daily Maverick
Carol Paton | Ramaphosa is running out of time. Does he know it? – Fin24 (for subscribers)
Collapse of energy utilities sounds a warning bell – New Frame
Image: GCIS
