BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI: Ramaphosa has more power than most people credit
‘Too much is being made of the fact that Zuma’s lapdogs have made it onto the NEC and that they’ll do everything in their power to stymie any attempt to get rid of Zuma’
When ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa stands up to address his party’s 106th anniversary celebrations in East London on Saturday, he will not only be speaking to the comrades, those thousands crammed into the stadium named after a bank, totem of so-called white monopoly capital. Many in South Africa — and beyond — will be hanging on his every word. He has to confront the elephant in the room. People don’t want to know if Jacob Zuma will go. They want to know when. And the sooner the better. Ramaphosa will have to be swift and decisive. He has to eat that frog. The first steps he takes will either doom or enhance his reputation. There are some who are already putting it about that he can’t act rashly because he has a divided top six, with the corrupt Zuma-supporting Ace Magashule ensconced as secretary-general and the machiavellian David Mabuza at his elbow. It is also said that Ramaphosa has only a tenuous majority in the national executive committee (NEC). These are all excuses, argum...
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