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President Cyril Ramaphosa gave the impression of being well positioned to win a momentary term as head of the country’s ruling party, there is a lot of haggling and haggling to come.
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By John Eligon
JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose presidency has been rocked by allegations that he tried to cover up the theft of a huge sum of cash from his farm, has proven well placed to win a momentary term as head of the African National Ruler. of Congress and president of the country, after the nominations by rank and trajectory of his party were announced on Tuesday.
The A. N. C. revealed that 3543 branches across the country have submitted bids for leadership positions to be contested at a national convention starting Dec. 16 in Johannesburg.
At the meeting, which takes position every five years, members decide on senior ANC officials, adding its president, who is the country’s president. National elections are scheduled for 2024 and the A. N. C. It has obtained an absolute majority of votes in all national competitions. since South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.
Ramaphosa has won nominations in 2037 branches, more than double those of his closest competitor, Zweli Mkhize, who served as fitness minister under the president. Begins
Delegates, who vote through a secret ballot, have no legal responsibility to limit themselves to the appointments of their branches. A lot of haggling and haggling over votes occurs between the time nominations are published and the time delegates show up at the polls, analysts said.
Dr. Mkhize said in an interview after the appointments were announced that he was still confident he would succeed next month. He said he heard from supporters across the country who planned to vote for him at the conference, but said they did not nominate him. to its branches because they feared the repercussions of the existing leadership of the party.
“We expected this model,” he said. That is why it behooves us to look forward to a secret ballot. Our feeling right now is that we still have very intelligent support.
Who is Cyril Ramaphosa? Before being sworn in as South Africa’s president in 2018, Mr. Ramaphosa, a former union leader turned wealthy businessman. During his campaign, he pledged to eliminate the country’s debilitating corruption. He is now accused of covering up a cache of stolen money. of one of its properties.
What is “Farmgate”? According to the charges, the thieves stole a fortune in U. S. dollars hidden in the furniture of M’s farm. The president never reported the theft to police or disclosed it publicly, but he opened an informal investigation and paid suspects to remain quiet. Ramaphosa denied seeking the canopy.
What happens next? After a damning report through an independent panel concluded that Mr Ramaphosa had possibly damaged the law, the chairman said he would not resign and would instead challenge the report. Ramaphosa is unlikely to face impeachment after his party said he would. To him.
Among the names nominated for the leadership of the ruling party, known as the “top six,” were several from S. Ramaphosa, a reflection of his political strength and the continued role of factional politics and bitter infighting, analysts said.
The nominations also show a lack of their own so-called renewal agenda, said Hlengiwe Ndlovu, a senior lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand. Only two women have been nominated for a leadership position and will compete for the same position. Young leaders have also struggled to gain ground.
“How do we renew ourselves without focusing and without young people?”says Dr. Ndlovu.
Jacob Zuma, the former president who tried to re-enter politics after serving a 15-month sentence for failing to cooperate with a corruption investigation, has not secured enough nominations to run for the post of national president of the A. N. C. He remains in legal process in danger. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was vying to become the party’s first female president, also failed to secure enough nominations to automatically qualify for election.
Members can still participate in the festival if they get nominations from 25% of the conference delegates.
The appointments are a first positive sign for Ramaphosa, who has come under scrutiny since a former intelligence leader and political rival filed a police complaint alleging that between $4 million and $8 million in U. S. currency hidden in furniture was stolen in February 2020. Ramaphosa Game Farm, Phala Phala Wildlife.
Former spy leader Arthur Fraser has made outrageous allegations, adding that Mr. Ramaphosa never reported the theft to police, relying on an unofficial investigation through the head of the presidential coverage unit to investigate the theft.
The president’s belligerent parties within his own party have called on him to resign, accusing him of seeking to cover up stealing from himself allegations of money laundering and tax evasion related to having so much currency hidden on his estate.
A parliament-appointed panel is expected to take a resolution by the end of this month on Mr Ramaphosa who is expected to face an impeachment inquiry. Since its transition to democracy, South Africa has never had a president facing impeachment. The National Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Protector, an anti-corruption watchdog, have also opened their own investigations.
Ramaphosa, who has denied wrongdoing, said the investigation procedure was continuing.
At a recent meeting of A. N. C. Leaders, he gave some additional main points about the flight. He said about $500,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the game was stolen and named the businessman he said was the buyer, according to South Africa. Press reports.
The president did little to calm the poison he faced, local media reported, saying the leak of a draft report through the ANC’s integrity commission reported that the scandal had discredited the party.
The tense war for leadership within the A. N. C. , Africa’s oldest liberation movement, and the scrutiny Ramaphosa faces for theft, comes as the party finds itself at a crossroads. Much of the country is fed up with the constant drumming of corruption. Fees opposed to party officials. Entrenched poverty and poor delivery of facilities such as electricity and water have caused daily hardship for many people. All this led to the electoral fall of the party.
In last year’s local elections, the A. N. C. It failed to win at least 50% of the national vote for the first time since the country’s transition from apartheid to democratic rule. Many analysts expect the party to fall below 50% in the upcoming national elections. , will have to form a coalition with other parties to remain in power.
The leadership that emerges from the A. N. C. next month. It remains to be seen if the A. N. C. it takes seriously the thing of going back, that the A. N. C. He takes seriously the idea of looking like he heard it.
For much of his four years in office, Mr. Ramaphosa had given the impression of wanting to win a momentary mandate. But the scandal, called Farmgate through the media, may threaten that.
He came to power as leader of the A. N. C. in 2017 as an anti-corruption activist, and then replaced M. Zuma, whose nine years in power were marred by accusations that he allowed others close to him to enrich themselves by looting state coffers.
Following Mr. Zuma’s mandate, Mr. Ramaphosa defended a dispute that required party officials to be suspended if criminally prosecuted in court.
Now, Mr. Ramaphosa can stand in front of the same rule.
Lynsey Chutel contributed to this report.
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