Mohamed Ameen Dabhelia – 2017/12/21

Cyril Ramaphosa, an anti-apartheid activist turned tycoon and politician, has been chosen by the African National Congress as its leader for the next five years.

The battle to lead South Africa’s ruling party, which has been in power for 23 years but has been hit by declining support and a series of scandals, remained on a knife edge to the last minute of the conference.

Almost 5,000 delegates voted in an internal party election at a conference centre in Johannesburg.

Ramaphosa won with 2,440 votes to 2,261 for his rival Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The delegates’ choice will almost certainly determine the next president of South Africa, due to be decided in an election in 2019 and the trajectory of the “rainbow nation for decades to come.

Radio Islam International brought our listeners in depth analysis and coverage from the ANC’s 54th National Elective Conference between the 16th and 20th December 2017.

Ml Sulaimaan Ravat unpacked various outcomes from the conference.

Part 1

“No slate has prevailed in totality, it’s not the NDZ slate, Zuma slate or CR17 slate that won.” – Ml Ravat

Ml Ravat says the ANC is trying to put a PR spin on it calling it a ‘unity slate’ and that the branches were pushing for unity.

“But this was not a unity where they came to this conclusion on its own, this was forced upon them.”

Watch the video below:

 

Part 2

So, was Zuma totally defeated or not?

#ANC54 The Moment #Zuma hears #Ramaphosa is the new president of @MYANC pic.twitter.com/NCdm1Zg5yR

— Nickolaus Bauer (@NickolausBauer) December 18, 2017

Ml Ravat takes a look at the negatives and the positives from a ‘Zuma Perspective’.

Watch the video below:

 

Part 3

“A bittersweet victory for Ramaphosa” – Ml Ravat

Ml Ravat says it was clear to see that Ramaphosa wanted a clean mandate, that’s why he went for Naledi Pandor as his initial choice for Deputy President.

“He wanted a top six that would totally back him in renewing the ANC and getting totally rid of what he perceives as the corrupt faction.”

He didn’t get that… – Ml Ravat

Watch video below:

 

Part 4

“Where did it go wrong for NDZ? First of all she was a reluctant candidate.” – Ml Ravat

Ml Ravat says we continue to read about how the Women’s League Delegation had to sit in Addis Ababa to try to tell her that it is time for a woman president.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Jacob Zuma had a hand in pushing the women’s league to push her.” – Ml Ravat

Watch the video below:

 

Part 5

“Where to from here for the ANC, beyond this conference?” – Ml Ravat

The first aspect, which comes up, is ‘unity’, according to Ml Ravat.

However, in a political party… What does unity mean?

Listen below:

 

Part 6

The J Zee Conundrum

“The one way out for the ANC would be to negotiate an exit for Zuma on his terms.” – Ml Ravat

Ml Ravat says the one thing that worries Jacob Zuma is the court cases piling up against him.

Listen below:

 

 

Part 7

The Economy

“Any President of any country will always talk about the economy, which is central to everybody’s lives.” – Ml Ravat

Ml Ravat says even though the ANC decides on policies, they rarely implement any of them.

“They look back five years from now, they will see that they fall short when it comes to implementation.”

Listen below: