The ANC: Two Bald Men Fighting Over a Comb

THE ANC: TWO BALD MEN FIGHTING OVER A COMB

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been exposed as being another corrupt ANC politician by another corrupt politician! I would imagine that the motivation of Zuma stooge, Arthur Fraser, is to damage the reputation of a marginally less compromised Ramaphosa. What exactly do Messrs Fraser and Zuma hope to achieve by bringing down the current ANC administration?

One can only presume that the intention of sitting on this damaging information was so that Fraser and his fellow travelers could derail Ramphosa's re-election at the ANC conference at the end of the year. In planning their game of chess, how do you suppose they imagine this to play out?

• Do you suppose that the RET faction thinks that, in the absence of Cyril Ramaphosa, their candidate will prevail, and if so who will their candidate be?
• Will it be Ace Magashule, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Zweli Mkhize, Lindiwe Sisulu or even DD Mabuza?
• If one of these candidates were to prevail, would this be enough to convince a significant portion of the 54% of voters who didn't vote for the ANC in the recent Municipal Elections to change their minds?
• Does this faction believe that South Africans are so excited about the return of the original State Capture Squad and that this will make the ANC an irresistable option?

Let's think through how this would work:

1. The RET win at the ANC Elective Conference in December.
2. By February 2023, they recall Ramaphosa and make their candidate President for a maximum of 18 months until the next General Election.
3. This 18-month period will usher in the most spectacular scramble to steal as much as possible; but how will this work? It took Zuma and his fellow State Capurers about 2 years to begin the State Capture project in earnest. They first had to remove all of the good guys and put their guys in place.

Or...

Perhaps the RET faction intends to govern the country brilliantly. Perhaps those former and current Cabinet Ministers who have shown themselves to be really poor at their jobs, like Lindiwe Sisulu, Fikile Mbalula, Malusi Gigaba and even Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma have been holding back for the past 28 years. Maybe they are, in fact, brilliant public servants who could have all of the train lines repaired and the trains running on time but previous ANC leadership has been stopping them. Perhaps they are able to deliver new power stations on time and under budget if given the chance. Maybe there is an entire coterie of young, dynamic leaders waiting in the wings until Ramaphosa is gone and we just don't know about them!

Then there is the issue of the voters. The next General Election will be held sometime in 2024 and we know that the ANC have lost a lot of support. We can presume that the newly elected RET President will race to dismiss the Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, the Ministers of Finance, Public Enterprises and Justice; and install people like Gigaba and Sisulu in key ministries. Renowned public servants like Brian Molefe, Anoj Singh and Matshela Koko will be installed in key positions. Will this be enough to convince voters that the ANC will be better this time?

As stupid as this whole thing seems for the RET faction, let's not forget just how compromised Cyril Ramaphosa is after these revelations. This incident is impossible to explain away. The only conclusion that South Africans can reach is that Ramaphosa believes that he is above the law, in the same way, that his predecessor did. The fact that we have not seen invoices, VAT payments, or foreign exchange records proves his guilt on several scores.

This whole unseemly internecine fight is the epitome of two bald men fighting over a comb. The winner will be a loser and the loser will be a loser. I have never been a fan of Cyril Ramaphosa and I will be happy to see him go. I believe that for South Africa to progress, we have to break the stranglehold that the ANC has exercised. We have so many talented people in this country that will be better than the best candidates from both factions of the ANC. We need to break from the outdated, ineffective policies of a liberation movement that is incapable of running a modern country. As has been said before, "we cannot have a modern, successful country and an ANC government at the same time".

The road ahead may be bumpy, but I am going to enjoy the ride!