Ramaphosa’s dithering is hurting ANC

Whether appointing a new SABC board or reshuffling the Cabinet, President Cyril Ramaphosa is extremely slow on decision-making and lacking in urgency.

He appears to be experiencing difficulty in finding any acceptable resolutions due to treading carefully on serious divisions and tensions within the ANC leadership collective, political experts said on Sunday.

Against the background of media watchdog Media Monitoring Africa approaching the Constitutional Court on an urgent basis to compel Ramaphosa to appoint a new SABC board, the much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle has not yet been announced, a development which University of Pretoria politics lecturer Roland Henwood said threatened his legitimacy as leader.

With four new MPs having been sworn in – ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile, second secretary-general Maropene Ramokgopa and former MECs Sihle Zikalala and Parks Tau – Ramaphosa has failed to swing into action.

Mashatile is expected to replace David Mabuza as the country’s deputy president, full-time ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula is to leave the transport ministerial portfolio and the post of minister of public service and administration has remained vacant since last year. Plus, a new minister of electricity is soon to be appointed to deal with the energy crisis.

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ANC to suffer consequences

He cautioned that if Ramaphosa failed to deliver he faced the prospect of having no legitimacy as a leader, with the ANC government set to suffer “the consequences and finding it very difficult to make headway before the upcoming general election”.

“Apart from Cabinet vacancies, this government is seriously underperforming and the impact on SA is immense.

“There are also too many individuals in government who are undermining Ramaphosa.

“Serious interventions and changes are required if there is to be any hope of achieving better outcomes for the country and the ANC,” said Henwood.

With Tripartite Alliance partners the SA Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) standing against the introduction of a minister of electricity, Henwood said, there seemed to be “no real plan, and he may be finding it difficult to sell the idea and get a suitable person”.

Balancing various interests

Independent political analyst Sandile Swana said the delay in the Cabinet reshuffle hinged on Ramaphosa balancing the interests of various political, business and labour stakeholders who endorsed him staying in power.

“These are also people who supported him at the Nasrec ANC national conference.

“His allies in the SACP and Cosatu have complained about the manner in which he appoints his Cabinet.

“He will go down as the last president of the ANC since 1994 to enjoy a majority in parliament and in the provinces – putting him in a difficult position.

“When he goes, let him go having put the best Cabinet in an effort to redeem the day and show that the ANC still has some capability.”

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Swana added: “The vacancies have been there for long – an oversized Cabinet with many deputy ministers.

“I don’t see why we should be panicking about replacing Cabinet rather than reducing the size that we already have.

“The ANC has increased its stock of incompetent, non-performers and corrupt people – a group Ramaphosa has to choose from. Choosing from a below-average ANC is going to be very tough for him.”

He said the non-performance by state power utility Eskom was “sustained for a very long time and has worsened”.

“South Africans are deep in crisis and they have been for a long time.

“For as long as the ANC is in power, we will not have a short-term solution.

“People have to be patient and go through the national polls to see what kind of a coalition government emerges – whether there is a scope for fresh air, faces and legs to come in.”

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