PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign for re-election as ANC President received a major boost at the weekend when the party’s treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said members wanted him to secure a second term.
Mashatile was addressing the Progressive Business Forum in Cape Town on Friday night following the State of the Nation Address on Thursday.
Mashatile said Ramaphosa has tackled corruption and he has made headway by appointing capable and skilled people to towards establishing good governance.
Mashatile’s comments comes just under ten months before the ANC’s elective conference in December, where the party will elect new leadership.
“Members of the ANC feel strongly the president should make himself available for a another term to be able to continue with this programme of tackling corruption,” said Mashatile.
“One thing the president has done since he came into office was to tackle corruption head-on and make sure state institutions function optimally.”
He said under Ramaphosa’s leadership, South Africa was attractive to investors.
“If you ask me will we succeed to make sure SA becomes a good country where investments and investors are going to be attracted, the answer is, yes, we are on the right path. We are in a situation where investors want to come in because they know SA is stable and there is good governance,”he said.
Senior party leaders in the past few months have publicly endorsed Ramaphosa for a second term even before the party opened the succession debate.
The leaders who have officially endorsed Ramaphosa for a second term include Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, Northern Cape chair and premier Zamani Saul, and Limpopo chair and premier Stanley Mathabatha.
Lamola said in January that electing Ramaphosa for a second term will provide stability and continuity in the party.
While Ramaphosa is considered the hottest front-runner to retain the ANC presidency, he is likely to face a challenge from tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who recently caused a furore when she criticized the judiciary and contradicted a statement from the presidency stating that she had apologized for her remarks.
Another challenge could come from Zweli Mkhize, who quit as health minister last year after being implicated in a corruption scandal and has been campaigning hard in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
KwaZulu-Natal has the biggest ANC voting bloc of the nine provinces and Ramaphosa may have to select his deputy from the province to buoy his own reelection prospects, or at least ensure that one of the party’s other five top officials come from the region.
Analysts said such a move could also bolster the ANC’s chances of retaining power there in 2024.
The ANC garnered just 46% support in last year’s municipal elections, its lowest share of the vote since it came to power in the first post-apartheid elections in 1994, a backlash against its shoddy management of towns and scores of its officials being implicated in graft.
It secured just 36% backing in the economic hub of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg, and 42% in KwaZulu-Natal, and risks losing control of both provinces in elections scheduled for 2024, while its national majority is also under threat.
- * Inside Politics
