Shallow victory for Ramaphosa as Magashule, Mabuza implicated in corruption
New ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa may have won the top seat, but the Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma slate, backed by President Jacob Zuma, was still dominant in the new top six.
Vendors sell ANC regalia as well as food outside Nasrec, 18 December 2017, at the 54th ANC national elective conference. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
Congress of the People (Cope) leader Mosiuoa Lekota said while he welcomed Ramaphosa taking the helm, he warned it would be a shallow victory, as many of the other winners, such as Ace Magashule, the new secretary-general and deputy president David Mabuza.
In Soweto last month, Ramaphosa called for a “new deal” between business and government to spur economic growth. Pravin Gordhan, a respected former finance minister, said with Ramaphosa as elected ANC leader, “the whole narrative about South Africa’s economy would change for the better within three months”.
But it was not all sunshine and roses for Ramaphosa. He was a non-executive director at Lonmin in 2012, when a violent strike at its Marikana mine ended in police shooting dead 34 strikers.
An inquiry later absolved him of guilt, but some families of the victims blame him for urging authorities to intervene. – Reuters buza were from the Dlamini-Zuma camp and were implicated in allegations of corruption and state capture.
“Looking at the preliminary results, you immediately recognise that – and looking at the campaign over the years, many of the other candidates who won were from the NDZ (Dlamini-Zuma) slate.
“It’s clear any direction given by Cyril in terms of promises he made in dealing with corruption may not succeed either in the decision making or in the implementation.”
The ANC Youth League, which had put its weight behind the former African Union Commission leader, said yesterday it was only Dlamini-Zuma who could deal decisively with state capture and corruption in the country. ANCYL spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said Ramaphosa was not in touch with South Africa’s poor and therefore ill-equipped to deal with poverty.
“Dlamini-Zuma is the one who can deal decisively with these elements of state capture, with the help of a collective leadership.
“Of course she cannot do it on her own. It’s because primarily you have never heard about her spending millions on buffalo and other business interests and we need someone who can relate to the people.
“There can never be a struggle where the leader doesn’t identify with those who are suffering,” Mkhize said.
Meanwhile, the big business and the financial sector responded positively with the rand reaching a nine-month high against the dollar yesterday in response to Ramaphosa’s victory. Chamber of Mines CEO Roger Baxter said he hoped the new leadership would mark a new era of ethical leadership.
“The newly-elected president of the ANC and members of the national executive committee have a considerable task at hand and, on behalf of the mining industry, we wish them well.
“We hope to see a renewed focus by the ruling party on responsible and ethical leadership in the national interest across all sectors of the economy and at all levels of society. “The future of South Africa and its people depend on it,” Baxter said.
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