With the ANC gearing up for its hotly contested elective conference in December, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s CR22 campaign appears to have been thrown into disarray as bitter competition for positions, mistrust and a battle for his ear intensifies within his inner circle.
According to party insiders, Ramaphosa runs the risk of having a tougher second term if elected due to his decision to allow his supporters to slug it out among themselves as they scramble for election into the party’s top six positions.
There is also growing frustration that Ramaphosa is not actively involved in campaigning for officials he prefers as deputy president and secretary general, the two positions that are crucial in his drive to use the second term to cement his legacy.
Ramaphosa is understood to have elected to stay out of the politics of slates, citing among others, his experience in the run up to the last elective conference in 2017, where he narrowly beat Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the top job.
Having endorsed International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor as his preferred deputy at the time and subsequently taking a sudden U-turn by picking Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as a running mate, Ramaphosa was compelled to settle for David Mabuza as his deputy while Ace Magashule emerged as secretary general.
Magashule, who has since been suspended, launched a campaign to oust Ramaphosa after the 2017 conference.
The emergence of a slate from the Ramaphosa camp last week, choosing Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu as deputy president and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula as secretary general, has sparked a turf war among Ramaphosa supporters.
Divisions in the CR22 camp have pitted Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola and Mchunu against one another for the position of deputy president.
One of the president’s trusted lieutenants told Sunday World some of Ramaphosa’s supporters want to drag him into the politics of slates and ride on his back to gain positions in the echelons of the party.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele and former Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom have been accused of being the brains behind the “Senzo and Mbalula” slate.
Gungubele and Hanekom have denied this.
This week, a rumour spread that a CR22 women’s caucus comprising of ANC Women’s League national coordinator Maropene Ramokgopa held a meeting and decided to throw their weight behind the “Senzo/Mbalula” slate, which has caused deep divisions among some of the “women comrades” in the Ramaphosa camp.
Ramaphosa has been endorsed by several provincial executive committees and the governing party’s treasurer-general Paul Mashatile is a front runner for the deputy president position.
The divisions in the Ramaphosa camp come as former health minister Zweli Mkhize – who is challenging Ramaphosa – is gaining ground.
However, the Mkhize faction is also weakened by the cold war between Magashule and former president Jacob Zuma, after Zuma told Magashule and his backers that they should throw their weight behind Dlamini-Zuma’s second bid to become president.
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