The ANC has finally moved on from the Zuma family. Former president Jacob Zuma thought that, like the phoenix, he could rise through Nkandla’s ashes to make the governing party’s top six as chairperson. The branches had other ideas and gave him a bloody nose. He is not even making it onto the ballot.
He should call the DA’s Helen Zille for tips on mounting a successful political comeback.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is heading towards another failed presidential bid. In Nasrec in 2017 she lost to Cyril Ramaphosa by a whisker, but this time, having amassed a paltry 81 branch nominations, she’s not making the ballot. Before you remind me that she’s a freedom fighter in her own right and I’m being unfair in linking her to her ex-husband, she still carries his name and was his preferred choice five years ago.
Sure, both can still be nominated from the floor, but I’ll grow a hair on my head and dye it pink if any of them muster the required 25% support from delegates to make it onto the ballot paper. Even their home province of KwaZulu-Natal is saying enough already.
The same goes for Lindiwe Sisulu, who made a huge noise about her presidential ambitions. They have fizzled out like flat soda. With only 66 branch nominations, she should not even think about raising her hand from the floor or she’ll be wholly embarrassed. I’m expecting the princess and her clownish backers to read the room, but hubris is a terminal disease. She associated with all manner of charlatans and has done women in the ANC a horrible disservice.
Poor DD Mabuza. Ramaphosa wouldn’t be in power without his backing, but I guess when you lose the support of your province, there’s little anyone can do for you.
Which brings me to those who made it onto the ballot and will be contesting the top six positions in three weeks.
Poor DD Mabuza. Ramaphosa wouldn’t be in power without his backing, but I guess when you lose the support of your province, there’s little anyone can do for you.
Ramaphosa leads Zweli Mkhize by more than a thousand nominations and Paul Mashatile is also a mile off his closest competitor, justice minister Ronald Lamola. Mkhize has no chance in hell of closing this gap, so that’s that.
But I’m convinced ANC branches don’t want their party in power beyond 2024. How on Earth do they think nominating two men over the age of 60 as number one and number two equates to renewal? Women are still only good enough for the position of deputy secretary-general. Go figure.
Under his presidency, promised economic reforms have got off the ground, but are far from cruising altitude. Ramaphosa was bold to overrule energy minister Gwede Mantashe and remove the threshold for embedded power generation. The private sector has shown an appetite to invest in independent power projects, but red tape still frustrates approval processes. Just like Eskom, Transnet is a big risk to the economy. It is undertaking a rail liberalisation process that doesn’t make sense, offering slots to private players only on problematic routes and not on the lucrative coal and iron ore export lines. Credible private rail operators are not interested.
Ramaphosa the reformer needs to urgently reform a bureaucracy failing at implementation. His anti-corruption crusade is stillborn. A state capture heavyweight is yet to wear orange overalls.
Mashatile has played politics well and deserves the reward branches are about to shower on him. But he’s been a shadowy figure in ANC politics for too long. A lover of fine things, I don’t see him bringing innovation or vigour to the job. He’ll just be waiting in the wings for Ramaphosa to finish his term and hand him the baton.
Former KwaZulu-Natal secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli seems to have a good head on his shoulders. He was hounded out of the job in that province by Zuma loyalists, but will have the last laugh when he’s carried onto the stage in Nasrec as the next secretary-general. Ace Magashule did that office a lot of damage and he will have a mountain of work on his hands restoring its credibility.
Lamola is about to lose to Mashatile. What happened to the youth league’s threats of dominating the structures with young people? How will the next national executive committee shape up? Will it be the same old faces who are past retirement age or nearing it?
Renewal is a word in the dictionary.
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