ANC SUCCESSION
A joint effort needed to undo the problem of two power centres
In his OR Tambo lecture delivered at the University of the Witwatersrand in October 2017, former president Thabo Mbeki decried the two centres of power issue as "nonexistent". In this regard he was wrong in relation to both the 1996 Constitution and the present political and constitutional crisis that has engulfed SA. While it was not entirely clear from his lecture precisely what specific context he was referring to, the "two centres of power" issue is in fact very real and politically highly problematic at present. The political idea and application of the two centres of power in relation to national government arises from the untenable situation where the elected leader of the ANC, as the governing political party, is not the same person as the president of the country. This is the position at present, where Cyril Ramaphosa is the newly elected leader and president of the ANC and Jacob Zuma is state president. This flows from the fact that the two sets of elections, one for the g...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.