BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI: Ramaphosa struggling to pull the trigger on the Zuma 'transition'
'Ramaphosa's challenge is how to play the loyal lieutenant while encouraging the boss to commit political hara-kiri'
Apart from toying with our emotions, Cyril Ramaphosa has also been taking refuge in imprecise language, using words such as "transition", code for chaperoning Jacob Zuma out of power, hopefully with his agreement. But it's a ruse that the wily old fox seems to have seen through. According to snippets from his meeting with the ANC top brass on Sunday, Zuma wasn't falling for the trick. What did they mean by "transition", he asked the esteemed delegation begging him to go quietly.Such inoffensive language seeks to sugar-coat an unpleasant outcome. Being evicted from office will obviously be extremely painful and humiliating for Zuma no matter how one may want to characterise it. But could it be that Ramaphosa is also struggling with a transition of his own - from obsequious underling to the headstrong honcho plotting the political demise of his former boss? How can one be a servant one day and a master the next? Or play both roles interchangeably, which Ramaphosa seems to be doing. Th...
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