Five top writers give their views on Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC presidency
Read Carol Paton, Natasha Marrian, Peter Bruce, Ranjeni Munusamy and Gareth van Onselen on Ramaphosa's chances
1. Ramaphosa seems to be frontrunner but it’s a fraught process Business Day’s deputy editor, Carol Paton, writes that Cyril Ramaphosa is winning the race to win public approval, but there’s a long way to go, especially because of the power of ‘provincial henchmen’. This from her article: When the delegate votes, says the Eye of the Needle, he or she is “guided by the mandate of their branch, region and province” but is also expected "to exercise his or her own judgment”. The result is that provincial strongmen have been easily able to compel delegates to vote in a certain way. In the past, provinces controlled this preference system by fighting out a provincial position before the conference began. As this will not happen this time and branches will make their nominations directly to Luthuli House, the strong men have lost leverage. But not all of it. Their biggest leverage is money. That delegates are paid is the ANC’s worst-kept secret. It is this that in the end will decide the ...
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