POLITICS
CAROL PATON: Attitudes harden as pro-Zuma camp digs in heels again
Why is it that Jacob Zuma is still in power and shows no sign of going? Did Cyril Ramaphosa believe his own spin that the unity of the ANC is paramount? The miracle of the ANC conference, he told us, was that while two warring factions went to conference, "the branches" wisely voted for unity, choosing the optimal mix of both factions. This was a sign that the membership wanted the leadership to work together and this they would do. Like all of us, he knows that is not actually what happened. What happened was that Gauteng leader Paul Mashatile and Mpumalanga leader DD Mabuza had always hoped to cut a deal that would see them both voted into the top six. When Ramaphosa realised, on the eve of voting, that he did not have the numbers without Mabuza, he bought in.The result was a top six in which the Mabuza-Mashatile axis held disproportionate power. In an attempt to dilute this, when it came to the election of the national working committee Ramaphosa formed an alliance with the hard ...
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