The ANC risks a split, but Ramaphosa should go for broke and fire Zuma. By William Gumede

By Dilip -
South Africa and its governing ANC have been plunged into a constitutional crisis in a standoff between the party’s new leader, Cyril Ramaphosa, and the country’s president, Jacob Zuma, who refuses to resign. Zuma could face more than 700 charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering, which preceded his controversial presidency, along with new claims to be investigated under an inquiry set up last month to probe allegations of Zuma having allowed state resources to be used to enrich his friends, particularly the controversial Gupta family – which he and they deny.

Yet as this power struggle continues, the longer it takes for Zuma to stand down, the more the authority, credibility and power of (and optimism for) Ramaphosa wanes. The longer Zuma stays, the more the chances of the ANC winning the 2019 elections deteriorate, along with Ramaphosa’s ambition of finally becoming South Africa’s president.

Under the scandal-prone Zuma, the ANC’s vote has dramatically declined, with the party losing major metropolitan areas in the 2016 municipal elections, including Johannesburg and Pretoria. And the longer Zuma stays in the presidency, the more his allies will grow in confidence and entrench their own grip on the party and government. Unless Ramaphosa is seen to be in control, the risk is that even after Zuma departs, Ramaphosa’s authority may be so harmed that he may struggle to unite the divided factions in the ANC and the wider South Africa behind a common vision for growth, fighting corruption and improving failing public services.


Zuma has so far escaped facing any charges. Critics say he has achieved this by appointing pliable allies to security, police and prosecuting authorities. He desperately wants to end his term in 2019, ahead of South Africa’s next general election; this will presumably give him the power to finally quash all the investigations against him... read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/09/ramaphosa-fire-zuma-anc-south-africa

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