Can Cyril clean up SA?
Conflicting messages from the ANC on whether Zuma is on his way out are an irritation — but could sabotage Ramaphosa’s plans to save the ANC and renew the economy
President Jacob Zuma’s D-day is one step closer after the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) agreed in principle — at least according to some members of the committee — that he should step down, but that his exit be managed by the party’s top six officials, led by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa. However, Ace Magashule, the new ANC secretary-general, insisted that there was no agreement on recalling Zuma, and Ramaphosa and Zuma would between them hammer out the details of Zuma’s exit. The NEC also stated, in something of a lukewarm warning to the pro-Zuma camp, that the party is the centre of power that wields "authority over the state". But Zuma’s allies did not put up much of a fight when his "recall" as national president was raised at the ANC lekgotla in Irene, Pretoria, last Friday, perhaps a sign of shifting allegiances just a month after the ANC’s elective conference at Nasrec, which delivered the party presidency to Ramaphosa. But maybe the Zuma-ites didn’t need to resis...
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