Several leaders of the ANC today rebelled against President Cyril Ramaphosa, with one senior leader calling on him to step down in a tense meeting of the party’s top brass earlier this morning.
Sunday World understands that Ramaphosa came under siege following the hard-hitting letter he wrote on Sunday in which he said the ANC was Accused No 1 in corruption in the country.
It has emerged that several leaders in the national working committee took serious exception to Ramaphosa’s letter, with some saying he had employed “DA speak”.
ANC heavyweight Tony Yengeni led the charge against Ramaphosa, saying he should be the first one to step down.
An ANC leader who attended the meeting of the national working committee said Yengeni cornered Ramaphosa on the donations he received for his presidential campaign in 2017.
Yengeni is said to have argued that Ramaphosa ascended to power on high moral ground and immediately those associated with him were appointed to boards of state-owned enterprises.
“Tony said if there is someone who must step aside first was Ramaphosa,” the source said.
On Sunday, Ramaphosa penned a strongly worded letter decrying corruption in the ranks of the ANC, calling on those implicated in graft to step down.
Ramaphosa said the party had to take collective responsibility for the accusations of corruption besetting it, adding that looting of Covid-19 funds should be the turning point in the fight against corruption.
But ANC leaders this morning turned the table on the president in a tense meeting of the NWC, which started at 9am and failed to end at 2pm as scheduled. So intense were the discussions that the start of the meeting of the party’s national executive committee had to be delayed.
“At the end of the meeting the president said it would be a relief for him to step down,” the source said.
