Riyaz Patel
A group of erstwhile ANC leaders say the real target of “those ANC politicians and their fellow travellers who are leading the attack [on Gordhan] is President Cyril Ramaphosa.”
A statement signed by the 20 elders, which include Wally Serote, Mavuso Msimang, Frank Chikane, Sydney Mufamadi, Cheryl Carolus and Aziz Pahad, said: “[We] are appalled at the utterances of those who have couched a political assault on Comrade Pravin Gordhan with insincere concern over the crisis at Eskom.”
“A convergence, or ‘unity,’ of these individuals and organisations is indeed underway and is self-evidently designed to bring about the removal of a president committed to rehabilitating the country’s institutions and eliminating corruption,” the statement continues.
“Mealy-mouthed affirmations of their support for the President are pure fluff. It is embarrassingly obvious that President Ramaphosa is seen as a placeholder by these parties. Their strategy is to progressively weaken him until he is ousted and the Eskom crisis is fertile ground for their machinations.”
The elders contend that what’s not in dispute is a “chilling signal that national assets are being misgoverned not only at Eskom, but throughout the SOE (state-owned enterprise) sector.”
“Eskom has been fertile ground for patronage, massive corruption and political adventurism over the last two decades,” the ANC veterans group said.
“Eskom demonstrably sits at the centre of the economy and its degradation has a linear correlation with SA’s declining economic performance.”
Earlier this week, the ANC Women’s League and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) had called for the power utility to be reconfigured to the energy department after Eskom board chairperson Jabu Mabuza resigned, apologising because Eskom did not keep to its commitment to avoid load shedding until January 13.
But the ANC elders maintain that the issue goes much deeper.
“This is a deeper problem related to SA’s political culture and its form of government. This will have to be corrected if the country is to avoid the appellation of a failed state.
Casting blame on and directing opprobrium at Pravin Gordhan for the state of affairs at Eskom is disingenuous and duplicitous.”
Most “right-thinking members of the ANC and the citizenry” know that “these elements are engaged in a long-term project of state capture and regard the Ramaphosa presidency as a necessary interval before they are once more in power,” the ANC stalwarts and veterans maintained.
The group affirmed their support for Ramaphosa, adding that those agitating behind the scenes will not succeed.
“We make common cause with those within and outside of the ANC who would resist this project. We call on President Ramaphosa to stand firm and refuse to bend the knee to those who serve with him in the NEC (national executive committee) and Cabinet who would steal from and cripple the state. There is no ‘unity’ to be had with them; their ignominious defeat is certain.”
