EDITORIAL COMMENT: Ramaphosa must restore ANC, SA to former glory Cyril Ramaphosa
Cyril Ramaphosa

Cyril Ramaphosa

WE hail the smooth transition in South Africa which saw the country’s former President Jacob Zuma hand over the reins of power to his deputy, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, averting a potential crisis that could have led to a paralysis in Government operations and possibly violence in parts of the country.

South Africa is by far the most industrialised nation in Africa and an economic powerhouse in Southern Africa and any instability in that country could have had far reaching consequences for the rest of the continent, particularly for Zimbabwe —its biggest trading partner in the region.

There had been a stand-off between Mr Zuma and his party — the ruling African National Congress — after the former refused to heed calls for his resignation from the party’s National Executive Committee at its meeting on Monday. The NEC — the party’s highest decision-making body outside Congress — convened and resolved to recall Mr Zuma following allegations of State capture and rampant corruption in Government.

The former President’s recall also followed the election of Mr Ramaphosa as ANC President at the party’s conference in December where he narrowly defeated Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. On Thursday, Mr Ramaphosa was elected and sworn in as the new President of South Africa by the country’s 400-member Parliament — which is dominated by his party.

He will now finish his predecessor’s term, which ends with elections next year. The former trade unionist is likely to lead South Africa for the next 10 years as his party is poised to cruise to victory in the 2019 polls and possibly those that follow in five years’ time. The ANC, like other liberation movements in the Sadc region — is the party of independence and its dominance of the South African political scene is unlikely to be curtailed by opposition parties as long as it stays true to the values, ethos and principles of its founding fathers.

Granted, some opposition parties like the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters (its own offshoot), have eaten into its support base but it continues to straddle, like a colossus, over the body polity of the rainbow nation.

There have been upheavals in the ANC beginning with the transition from the administration of former President Thabo Mbeki to Mr Zuma; the corruption allegations against Mr Zuma; the COPE breakaway; the emergence of the EFF fronted by former ANC Youth League members and lately the State capture allegations. Despite all these setbacks, the party has remained intact. The election of President Ramaphosa presents the ANC and South Africa with an opportunity to make a clean break with the past which was tainted by allegations of corruption. That country can now focus on accelerating the growth of its economy without the headache of having to deal with a Head of State plagued by a plethora of State capture allegations.

In Mr Ramaphosa, the ANC has elected a leader with an impeccable record in both politics and business, a squeaky clean image and someone with the wherewithal to drive South Africa forward. He will have to deal with his predecessor’s numerous pending court cases, the infamous Gupta family accused of capturing Mr Zuma, some of his colleagues in the Top Six hierarchy of the ANC accused of corruptly benefiting from the Guptas and an economy whose growth had slowed down in recent years. On a personal level, Mr Ramaphosa faces a mammoth task of cleansing his image which was tainted by his involvement in the Marikana Massacre of 2012 when 34 striking miners were shot dead by the police.

At the time, Mr Ramaphosa — who was a shareholder and director at Lonmin — the company that owned the platinum mine — had called for stronger action against the miners. Although a commission of inquiry cleared him, the accusations continue to haunt him, with activists and the EFF routinely blaming him over Marikana.

However, his immediate task is to put together a Cabinet team capable of steering South Africa forward. He has tough decisions to make regarding its make up with calls for him to drop some of Mr Zuma’s close allies while playing a delicate balancing act to maintain unity and cohesion within the ANC.

The assignment is unenviable, tough even, but the country needs to move ahead while the ANC needs to regain lost ground. Opposition parties were smelling blood buoyed by the blundering Mr Zuma but Mr Ramaphosa has an opportunity to stop the hemorrhaging and restore the party of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo to its former glory. He will need the support of every member of the ANC who should be reminded that the very existence of the century-old movement was under threat from predatory opportunists out to feather their nests with the resources of South Africa.

We are glad that well-meaning members of the ANC managed to regain control of their party and country in time before more damage had been done.

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