Image: Daily Maverick
Faizel Patel – 04/12/2020
North West Professor and political analyst Andre Duvenhage says President Cyril Ramaphosa is a concerned man battling a number of issues within the African National Congress (ANC).
Duvenhage was speaking to Radio Islam on Friday following Ramaphosa’s address on Thursday in connection with the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ANC’s national working committee (NWC) is set to meet again as it battles to find common ground on whether criminally implicated members should step down.
Duvenhage says it is a very difficult time for Ramaphosa and a watershed moment for his time as leader of the ANC.
He says while the motion of no confidence by the African Transformation Movment (ATM) was postponed on Thursday which Ramaphosa would have survived, on a psychological level the president may be concerned that a political party has brought a motion of no confidence in him.
“We know who are behind the ATM. It is the RET group of Ace Magashule and Jacob Zuma is involved. This is becoming part of the bigger struggle in the ANC building up to the national executive committee meeting where the big question will be are they going to force people like Ace Magashule to step aside. What are the power base of Cyril Ramaphosa versus the radical transformation group.”
Duvenhage says he has been made aware that there are problems in the “Ramaphosa camp”.
“My information is that Paul Mashatile and DD Mabuza deflected from the Ramaphosa camp. Also a bit earlier Lindiwe Sisulu and there’s strong criticism against Pravin Gordhan and Tito Mboweni and the argument is that Ramaphosa is announcing the battle against corruption, people need to step down, but no one is listening to him.”
Duvenhage says an article by journalist Stephen Grootes argues that the centre of the ANC is falling apart.
Listen to the interview with Andre Duvenhage
0 Comments