Motlanthe to stay inside tent

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma and his new ANC deputy Cyril Ramaphosa have convinced Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to stay on in government until the next general elections in 2014.

The Sunday Times has learnt that the three met on the sidelines of the ANC national conference a day after Motlanthe's defeat on Tuesday. Zuma and Ramaphosa asked Motlanthe to continue in government and head the ANC's political education programme despite his heavy defeat in the race for the party presidency.

Zuma was quick on Friday to give assurances that Motlanthe would remain in the cabinet until the end of the government's current term.

Although he did not confirm the details of his Wednesday meeting with Motlanthe and Ramaphosa, Zuma on Friday made an impassioned plea for the speculation around the future of his deputy in government to stop.

"That speculation must come to an end. Is [Ramaphosa] now going to be the deputy president of the state? No. Is [Motlanthe] no longer going to be the deputy president of the state? He is going to be, because he'll continue. The issues are clear, that speculation must end," said Zuma.

Motlanthe's spokesman Thabo Masebe referred questions to the ANC.

Zuma's sentiment that Motlanthe should remain at OR Tambo House, the official residence of the deputy president, was echoed by sports minister Fikile Mbalula, who said it would be "petty and personal" if Motlanthe resigned or was forced out of office.

Motlanthe received 991 votes to Zuma's 2983 when the two went head-to-head for the position of ANC president this week.

Ramaphosa was conciliatory on Friday, revealing that he would not have agreed to stand for the ANC deputy presidency had Motlanthe accepted nomination for the same post.

The businessman, however, refused to say whether he would agree to take over the country's deputy presidency were Motlanthe to resign before the 2014 elections.

"I have been elected deputy president of the ANC and that is the area of work that I am focusing on. Government issues are the prerogative of the president - he has to choose and decide what he does. I am very pleased with where I am and I want to continue where I am in the ANC," he said.

Ramaphosa expressed delight that Motlanthe would continue playing an active role in the ANC by leading its political education programme, despite no longer being involved in its leadership structures.

"Motlanthe's first love in the political sphere is political education. He is well versed in it and he has deep passion about that area of work. It was just an easy conversation and an easy conclusion and decision that [Motlanthe] should focus on that."

When Motlanthe left Robben Island in 1987, it was Ramaphosa who gave him his first job as the head of the political education department at the National Union of Mineworkers.

Ramaphosa said the fact that he was a successful businessman did not mean that he could not connect with and identify with ANC supporters at grassroots level.

"We are a multi-class organisation. We appeal [to] and have membership right across the board, from the poorest person to people who . are in the middle class and upper class. One's positioning wherever you are should never . change your consciousness. My consciousness remains exactly what it was years ago when I was campaigning for mineworkers' rights," he said.