The road to a second term as ANC president is less riddled with potholes and obstacles than the road to a second term as president of the republic for the incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa.
The president will face less competition when he heads to the ANC elective conference at the end of the year than what he faced five years ago at the Nasrec where he narrowly beat out challenger Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
As News24 outlines in its Friday Briefing, the ANC is well aware of the election ballot advantage Ramaphosa brings with him and after the heavy defeats during the 2021 municipal elections, the party can ill afford a poor showing at the national elections in two years if they are to retain power.
But will the president have a more favourable slate this time around, that would give him the room to manoeuvre that he needs and the ability to institute the changes we keep hearing he wants to do but can’t because of the various factions within the party?
It’s unlikely writes Carol Paton, who argues that the president may very well end up with a similar top six split as he did in Nasrec in 2017 and would not be to Ramaphosa’s benefit.
It’s a long road to the December conference but one thing seems almost guaranteed right now, Cyril Ramaphosa will be the ANC president for the next five years at least. Whether he occupies the Union Buildings is another story entirely.
Switching to the president our president seems to talk to regularly these days, what happens if Russian President Vladimir Putin loses the way in Ukraine?
Paul de Grauwe writes about the relatively small economic size of Russia and details how the country’s military power isn’t that large after all. De Grauwe argues the war in Ukraine will have deep lasting economic effects for the country with most Russians already living in relative poverty there is further pain to come as the European Union weans itself off Russian oil dependency.
De Grauwe argues that Russia’s real power lies within its nuclear arsenal – the largest in the world. He poses the question as to what Putin will decide to do when he realises, he cannot win the war via conventional means.
Will he turn to chemical and biological weapons or worse yet, launch one of his nukes? Russia may not be able to win the war and capture Ukraine via its military, it can flatten and destroy the country if it fires a nuclear weapon…
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
Qaanitah Hunter | Another term as ANC president likely for Ramaphosa, but with more strings attached – News24 (for subscribers)
PATRICK BULGER | Putin’s war: when lies are not just another version of the truth – Sunday Times Daily (subscribe to read)
EDITORIAL: Time to end the state of disaster – Business Day (register to read)
ROBYN HUGO: JSE starts to walk its talk on climate – Business Day
PAUL HOFFMAN: Ramaphosa boldly claims SIU turning the tide against corruption – Business Day (subscribe to read)
TOM EATON | Who knew EFF rabble-rousers would turn rouble-rousers overnight? – Sunday Times Daily (subscribe to read)
SHIRLEY DE VILLIERS: No healing without justice and truth – Financial Mail
Comair scandal: Steep hike in plane fares no surprise – The Citizen (for subscribers)
