Ramaphosa could add new soldiers against political enemies to his Cabinet

Two potential appointees to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s new Cabinet do not have good track records – but they may get new positions as reinforcements in his fight against his enemies in the ANC.

Political analyst Sandile Swana said the soon-to-be deputy president Paul Mashatile and former Gauteng MEC for economic development and ex-Joburg mayor Parks Tau, who is touted as a potential replacement for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, had messed up in their previous jobs.

Mashatile ‘powerful’ before and after conference

And both former KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala and ANC second deputy secretary-general Maropene Ramokgopa would be brought in as Ramaphosa allies – but they had no real political strength of their own.

Swana said Mashatile and Tau did not cover themselves in glory as leaders. Mashatile was powerful before and after the ANC’s elective conference last year and may want to succeed Ramaphosa.

“Mashatile collapsed ANC finances to almost bankruptcy. It’s difficult to remember a clear track record of his achievements in Gauteng as an MEC. He has never distinguished himself as a man of excellence and a top performer,” Swana said.

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The analyst argued that Tau’s leadership “contribution to the ANC in power and better municipal governance was highly questionable”.

While he was Joburg mayor, the ANC lost the mayorship to the Democratic Alliance in 2016 and the Gauteng economic cluster and general administration collapsed completely under him.

“The economic cluster in Gauteng has been under his leadership and its performance was unimpressive, very informal, loose and disorganised. That is what Ramaphosa is getting in Tau. Tau cannot be an A team member of an ANC that is trying to recover from disasters,” Swana said.

Zikalala received the most votes and topped the list of additional members of the ANC national executive committee, but Swana believed this was engineered by the Ramaphosa slate to show KwaZulu-Natal that it was still “welcomed in the NEC”.

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It was also a reality that Zikalala would be shunned by the ANC provincial elite because of his links to Ramaphosa. Ramokgopa is among the youth that the ANC is elevating to the top because of competition from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

“These are young people who do not stand on their own strength like those of the EFF. They are standing because they are endorsed by the elders of the ANC whose conservative and misguided practices and polices since 2007 have brought this country to its knees and cost the ANC credibility. Even Ramokgopa under Ramaphosa is controlled by the elders,” Swana said.

Ramaphosa’s army to fight ANC battles

Bringing the four into Cabinet would reinforce Ramaphosa’s army to fight ANC political battles but infusing the youth into the executive wouldn’t make much of an impact because it would be to counter competition from the EFF, which has young leaders from top to bottom.

Another analyst, Prof Mcebisi Ndletyana, said the potential appointment of Ramokgopa as a minister or deputy minister while still performing her party duties at Luthuli House was meant to lessen the salary burden on the ANC.

He said her role was likely to reinforce the link between the ANC secretary-general’s office and the government in the arena of monitoring and evaluation of government’s performance.

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– ericn@citizen.co.za