Moeletsi Mbeki calls Cyril Ramaphosa ‘very weak’ president for ANC

Political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership, describing him as a “very weak” president of the ANC.

In a recent interview with the SMWX podcast, Mbeki shared his thoughts on Ramaphosa’s tenure as president, saying he has not been able to keep his house in order.

“Ramaphosa has been a very weak president for the ANC. He has not been able to control his own party. He’s not controlling the ANC and he’s not controlling his cabinet, which is why ministers say all sorts of things.”

Mbeki pointed to mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe as an example of a minister who openly contradicts government policy. Despite the government’s decision to transition to green energy, Mantashe has publicly shown support for the continuation of burning coal.

Mbeki said Ramaphosa’s failure to address such contradictions undermined his authority.

“The ANC has its own inner circles. He feels he’s not part of the inner circle and so he hasn’t got the muscle to enforce the ANC’s own decisions.”

Ramaphosa’s leadership has been further complicated by the ANC’s formation of a government of national unity (GNU) with other parties, including the DA. Disagreements between the DA and ANC have arisen over policies such as the Expropriation Act and the Bela Act.

Mbeki believes Ramaphosa’s leadership has become more ineffective since the formation of the GNU.

“He doesn’t feel he’s strong enough to insist decisions be enforced. What you have is a rather hectic and chaotic government, and it becomes more hectic and chaotic now that it’s in partnership with other parties in the GNU.”

He said ministers represented their own parties in government rather than working together as a unified cabinet. 

Mbeki highlighted instances where ministers took credit for their departments’ achievements on behalf of their own parties, rather than acknowledging the GNU’s collective efforts.

“You can see DA ministers talking about their work, but they are part of Ramaphosa’s cabinet. They should be speaking about what the cabinet is doing, but [they continue] because they feel nobody stops them from representing the DA.”

TimesLIVE