ANC ELECTION
CAROL PATON: Cyril Ramaphosa must train his voice and toughen his stomach
‘Almost every statement he has made in the past four years has been bland and cautious. What does he stand for?’
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to speak out over the firing of Pravin Gordhan was a game-changer in our politics. Until last Friday, Ramaphosa had remained quietly complicit. He had silently watched the firing of Nhlanhla Nene, said nothing about Nkandla, had no comment on the State of Capture report and had defended President Jacob Zuma in Parliament. People were beginning to talk. When would he stand up, if ever? Now that he has, and provided he continues to do so, there is a new game in town. While the ANC has been split in two for quite some time, officially there was only one ANC: the ANC that time and again had to defend Zuma’s indefensible reputation and his standing as president.With Ramaphosa and the two other top ANC officials, Gwede Mantashe and Zweli Mkhize, engaging in open criticism, ANC members who have been frustrated and aimless now have a leader they can fall behind. Ramaphosa’s decision to continue to serve in the Cabinet despite Zuma’s betrayal of AN...
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