ANC’s RET faction signalled they’re ‘ready for a war at Nasrec’

After President Cyril Ramaphosa’s political enemies got a bloody nose in Tuesday’s parliamentary Phala Phala vote, the battle for the party appears set to continue at the ANC Nasrec national conference where some members expect “war”.

Political analyst Sandile Swana said: “The battle will continue at Nasrec this weekend, clearly the ANC was not united behind Ramaphosa.”

He said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s decision to vote against Ramaphosa was an announcement by the ”radical economic transformation (RET) faction that they were ready for a fight this weekend.

“This was an RET announcement that they are taking the battle forward, to continue with it at the weekend. Dlamini-Zuma represented the RET and her presence was merely symbolic and to announce their intention that the fight will continue,” Swana said.

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The analyst said Dlamini-Zuma and Lindiwe Sisulu, both former ANC presidential candidates, had realised that they could not muster sufficient votes to beat Ramaphosa, hence they decided to fight him openly.

Sisulu stayed away from the vote, a move that did not surprise as she earlier indicated that she was fed-up with Ramaphosa and appeared ready to bear the consequences of her action. Also a large number of opposition members were absent during the vote.

Swana said the fact that deputy president David Mabuza voted in Ramaphosa’s favour showed his loyality to him and that Ramaphosa still owed him some favours. Mabuza helped Ramaphosa gain power in 2017 by influencing his Mpumalanga ANC bloc to vote for him instead of Dlamini-Zuma.

An ANC senior member, who asked not to be named, said what happened in Parliament, where some members voted against the party’s president, was unprecedented. He called for stern action to be taken against rebels Dlamini-Zuma and ANC MPs Supra Mahumapelo, Mervyn Dirks and Tandi Mahambehlala who all voted yes.

Mahambehlala tried to change her mind saying her ‘party line’ vote, as she called it, was misunderstood. She first voted no but tried to change it from yes, the opposition objected saying it was against the rules for National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, allow the MP to do that.

However the ANC defeated the motion with its majority 214 votes against 148. Had the motion passed, Ramaphosa would have been hauled before an impeachment committee set up by Parliament.

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ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba expressed shock at the absence of a large number of opposition members from the motion vote. Many members were called but did not respond as they were absent from the opposition benches. However it’s not immediately clear if they opted to follow their conscience to decide not to vote because they believed Ramaphosa was innocent or not.

Mashaba said the absence by the opposition MPs was “equally shocking” as the ANC vote to save Ramaphosa.

“Impassioned speeches from opposition leaders called on ANC MPs to vote their conscience and yet so many opposition MPs did not see it fit to attend this sitting. The fact that ANC MPs defend the indefensible is disappointing but expected, but that opposition MPs would defend the actions of the president with their absence is a demonstration of how the opposition has become complicit in the problem,” Mashaba said.

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