Is Cyril Ramaphosa signed and sealed ahead of ANC elective conference?

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s second term appears to be signed, sealed and waiting for delivery in December as the ANC’s Gauteng and Limpopo provinces agree on the best top six collective.

Even before the Free State and Western Cape held their provincial elective conferences and concluded their slates, Ramaphosa seemed to have an edge over his challengers for the top position.

The Gauteng and Limpopo top five leaderships met at the Ruth First Gauteng ANC provincial headquarters in Johannesburg, where they resolved to endorse Ramaphosa for a second term as ANC president with the party’s current treasurer-general, Paul Mashatile, as his deputy president.

The two provinces also agreed to support Limpopo premier and current ANC Limpopo chair Stanley Mathabatha for national chair and ANC national executive committee member and national organising subcommittee head Nomvula Mokonyane for deputy secretary-general (DSG).

The DSG position became vacant after the death of party stalwart Jessie Duarte in July, after a battle with cancer.

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They believed they had selected the “very best” collective, which represented continuity and ANC renewal.

The structures said in a joint statement last Thursday: “The individual attributes of each of the proposed leaders make for a collective that has the necessary experience and track record of activism that is needed to actualise the ideals of a national democratic society.”

They agreed to maintain continuous dialogue to evaluate progress on their undertakings.

They said it was true there were acts of sabotage at power stations, which were also national key points. The two leadership structures urged the security cluster to increase security at all power stations.

There was huge excitement expressed about the proposed bullet train between Johannesburg and Musina in Limpopo. They believed the train would go a long way in reducing the road carnage between the two provinces.

“The officials view the establishment of the high-speed train as a critical foundation to the realisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was conceptualised in 2012 to enhance trade integration on the continent and which South Africa, as a member state of the African Union, has endorsed.

“With the promotion of the movement of capital and people for the purpose of facilitating investment being one of the key objectives of the AfCFTA, the high-speed train will contribute significantly to the industrialisation of Musina, a gateway into the SADC [Southern African Development Community] region and Africa broadly,” the statement said.

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They condemned the historic theft of vehicles from South Africa to neighbouring countries. There had been a exponential rise in the movement of stolen vehicles over the past few years, with the Beitbridge border being one of the preferred ports for the criminal action.

The respective ANC provincial officials said the solution to this problem should involve all stakeholders, including the law enforcement agencies, the South African National Defence Force and Community Policing Forum, as well as the private sector.

The border management programme of Limpopo was a key intervention, but more border management authority guards were needed to police the border line.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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