If embattled President Cyril Ramaphosa is to retain his integrity, or whatever is left of it, it would be better if he were to resign, thus showing he is capable of leading by example even as the Phala Phala saga weighs heavily on him.
On Wednesday, the Section 89 Panel, chaired by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, raised, among other things, serious matters not in favour of Ramaphosa’s credibility, which included stolen money running into millions of dollars stashed in the sofa of his farm residence, and questioned why the theft was not timeously reported to the police outside the head of the presidential office.
The ANC is expected to hold a special national executive committee (NEC) meeting to discuss the panel’s ruling. The NEC, which is the party’s highest decision-making body in between conferences, has the power to either ask the president to step aside or to continue with his job.
Speculation is rife that Ramaphosa is toying with the idea of resigning from his position as the head of state soon. Sunday World understands he informed some of his inner circle that he will throw in the towel soon, ahead of the governing party’s much-anticipated elective conference on December 16.
With Ramaphosa fighting for his political life, speculations abound that if he were to be forced out, or tender his resignation, former president Kgalema Motlanthe is touted to be installed interim president.
Various leaders of society, including a university professor, an advocate of the high court and a member of the opposition party weighed in on the matter, expressing mixed reaction about how the matter should unfold.
But there was no question that the president “is not in a good space”, with some commentators firmly believing that “it may be better if he resigned for the sake of ensuring stability in the country”.
Professor Sheila Mokobote-Zwane, head of department of health studies at Unisa, said there was no doubt that Ramaphosa “has a case to answer”, and with that in mind “there might be a need for him to step down”.
However, Mokobote-Zwane wondered what would, in practical terms, his stepping down entail for the ANC and the country, if he should elect to resign, “given his stature in the ANC and the country”.
“Without Ramaphosa the ANC has no hope to offer to the people of this country. Who is the best to take over the reins of the ANC if he were to go. I see no one; I only see tainted men and women who are now offering to lead the ANC,” said Mokobote-Zwane.
Turning to former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who is gunning to be elected president of the ANC at the upcoming national elective conference in Nasrec, Mokobote-Zwane said: “Zweli Mkhize is tainted, and there is no escaping that reality.
“Zweli Mkhize is implicated and linked in the Digital Vibes scandal in which huge sums of money were siphoned from the Health Department for the benefit of those close to him. He has a case to answer himself. This is not the kind of leader South Africa needs.
“Without excusing Ramaphosa’s indiscretion, there can be no doubt that of the present ANC leaders, Ramaphosa is by far a better option. The ANC must protect him from the venom of those who want him out. Even as he has a case to answer, I see no one except him for the country’s presidency.”
Of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the professor said: “She is nothing but a proxy for former president Jacob Zuma.”
Advocate Philip Dhlamini, formerly a trade union leader, said the only option left for Ramaphosa was for him to resign.
Dlamini argued that if Ramaphosa was part of a political camp that ordered the secretary-general, Ace Magashule, to step aside, there is a moral obligation for him “to do likewise and resign”.
“If Ramaphosa is clever enough, he must give in and resign. If he resists, the whole ANC gang that is sponsoring his demise will literally be on top of him, day after day, making it impossible for him to run the affairs of the country with undivided attention.
“He is among those who put pressure on the ANC secretary-general to step aside while his criminal matters were being investigated. He is the leader, and must lead by example, and so he must resign,” Dhlamini said.
Former member of the ANC and SACP Ndzipo Kalipa, who is now Ekurhuleni metro COPE councillor, said: “Ramaphosa is our own. He now faces political thuggery from his own camp, comrades who are opportunistically ganging up against him.
“Let everybody wait for the processes to unfold. Knowing him, he will not resign, and will wait for legal processes to unfold.”
A senior member of the ANC NEC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “[For] this champion of moral excellence, the chickens have come home to roost for him. He must go, if not, we will ensure he is pushed out.”
With Ramaphosa fighting for his political life, speculations abound that if he were to be forced out, or tender his resignation, former president Kgalema Motlanthe is touted to be installed as interim president.
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