Ramaphosa paid to be elected at Nasrec, his opponents claim

Realising they might not succeed in their bid to oust President Cyril Ramaphosa at the upcoming national executive committee (NEC) meeting, his opponents have not stopped searching for a reason to remove him.

They now claim he paid to be elected at the ANC national conference at Nasrec in 2017.

Supporters of former president Jacob Zuma are demanding Ramaphosa and the NEC must be investigated for being elected fraudulently and say their decisions were not legitimate until this matter was cleared.

The Gauteng Radical Economic Transformation President Jacob Zuma Support Group, as they call themselves, alleged the current ANC government could not make legitimate decisions on Eskom, SA Airways or anything impacting on the country’s economy without being suspected of doing so on behalf of those who allegedly paid for their election.

The group said: “The possibility that the ANC and its leadership was bought and is now being controlled by the big white monopoly powers, who are alleged to have paid the money, is too ghastly to contemplate.

“This issue cannot be ignored, and any attempt to sweep it under the proverbial carpet must be resisted by every real and truly dedicated member of the ANC.

“This constitutes a fundamental legitimacy crisis.”

The informal group within the ANC – part of the Zuma faction whose members are close to ANC secretary-general, Ace Magashule – insisted the ANC must probe what they call “serious allegations” against Ramaphosa and the NEC.

This added to rumours that the members of the 2017 NEC were elected through crookery involving payment of money to buy delegates.

Ramaphosa’s opponents’ plan is to push the conference to ensure he is removed.

In a statement issued under the names of Carl Niehaus and Sibusiso Hadebe yesterday, the group said the current NEC cannot provide leadership on issues like Eskom, SAA and other SOEs when they are under a “dark cloud of illegitimacy”.

Until this was cleared up, there would continue to be legitimate concerns that the decisions the ANC leadership was making were “influenced and directed by those who … allegedly bought the ANC”.

The group’s statement said: “Thus, the decisions taken with regards to the management and future of these SOEs will lack legitimacy.”

They said allegations made publicly by ANC stalwart Tokyo Sexwale about the use of money to influence the Nasrec election must be probed.

Sexwale said during a TV interview last week: “What is the best way? Buy the ANC. It was a shocker. Nasrec was a shocker, where money was used to buy a conference.”

Some observers say it’s not a coincidence that Sexwale raised the matter on television or that later Minister of Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu called for the matter to be investigated.

Sexwale’s presidential ambitions are no secret, while Sisulu and a host of other ANC members opposed Ramaphosa at Nasrec.

A source this year told The Citizen that Sisulu was now working with the Zuma faction against Ramaphosa, although she remains in his Cabinet.

The group was trying to get a “new hero” to champion and had identified Sisulu as the best person for the job.

Sexwale, who was not appointed to Cabinet after being kicked out by Zuma, allegedly deliberately provoked the “money-for-votes” debate as part of his own fightback strategy against the president.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.