Cape Town - The first test of how much of a boost comes with his re-election as ANC president will be when Cyril Ramaphosa decides who he leaves out in the cold when reshuffling his Cabinet either later this month or early in February.
It will set the stage for a tough period before next year’s general elections, where all indications are that the ANC is likely to go below the 50% mark for the first time.
That means Ramaphosa’s newly composed Cabinet could also be the last ANC administration to govern this country – quite interesting.
Forget his internal foes like Tourism Minister Linidiwe Sisulu and Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who have openly stated their desire for him to vacate his office over the Phala Phala saga; he also faces a dilemma of keeping the ministers who were vital in saving his political career, like Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, who is heavily implicated in the state capture report for benefiting from the disgraced Bosasa.
Mantashe, like State Security Agency deputy minister Zizi Kodwa – also implicated in the state capture report – are believed to have played a critical role in convincing Ramaphosa to not resign and fight, following the damning Section 89 report that found he may have violated his oath of office.
The choices Ramaphosa makes when he reshuffles his Cabinet will most certainly go far and beyond the executive. They will also speak to how seriously he takes the party’s mandate of renewing the ailing ANC.
He will perhaps have an idea of what needs to be done in kick-starting that project, thanks to the party’s newly elected national executive committee, which has left out some old faces like Pravin Gordhan and Naledi Pandor, among other Cabinet members.
No doubt this will be a make or break moment for Ramaphosa, who has had to delegate much of his Cabinet’s responsibilities to task teams and advisory councils at great cost to the public purse.
To say his first term was a disaster would be an understatement.
The difference now is that the national elections are not that many months away and voters may not be as forgiving as ANC delegates, and rightly so.
After all, this is the party that sees itself as above our country.
Cape Times