PETER BRUCE: Cyril wins: South Africa's blessed moment
The ANC has miraculously given the country a Get Out of Jail Free card. The thieves and crooks are in trouble, but for the most part we can breathe again
At the end, it seemed it would never end; the company running the African National Congress elections dithered over final numbers, desperate to avoid conflict. But Cyril Ramaphosa came through, defeating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma by a slender 179 votes. Ramaphosa is the new president of the ANC and unless the combined opposition in parliament pull their fingers out he will be the next president of South Africa. In fact, the opposition might not have to wait until the 2019 election to have to start calling him “Mr President” when they attack him. It seems almost impossible that President Jacob Zuma will survive long in office at the Union Buildings. He got some supporters into the Top 6, notably Ace Magashule as the new secretary general. But even though Ramaphosa would have preferred a deputy other than Mpumalanga Premier David ‘DD’ Mabuza and must have groaned at the return of Jesse Duarte as deputy secretary general, they will quickly get behind him. There is absolutely no mileage in...
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