Ramaphosa's year of reckoning has begun. Can he prevail?
His relationship with Zuma, whom he has served as deputy president, has led to some awkward questions
South Africa’s deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed his availability to contest the presidency of the governing ANC at its 54th national conference later this year. He has already secured the endorsement of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (Cosatu). He failed in his bid to lead the party once before. Twenty years ago his comrades Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma were chosen ahead of him for the top two jobs at the party’s 1997 Mafikeng Conference. If his dream is going to be realised this time he is going to have to take on a major task of convincing ANC branches of his suitability. Ramaphosa will need a restoration and renewal narrative to convince them. He’ll need to show he has a plan to rebuild the party, and inspire its cadres sitting on the side-lines to join in his renewal efforts. If successful, he will need to switch immediately to election campaigning mode. The country goes to the polls in 2019 and he will have to do everything in his powers to salvage the fo...
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