The rapturous reception President Cyril Ramaphosa received from delegates on the first day of the ANC’snational general council(NGC) forum in Johannesburg this week suggests that any possible plan to recall him by his internal foes will not succeed. Delegates dressed in black, green and gold party regalia broke into song at the venue in Ekurhuleni on Monday, belting out “Ramaphosa re hu rata kaufela, retsamaya le wena” (Ramaphosa, we love you, we are behind you) and effectively transforming the atmosphere into a rally for the ANC leader. Chants of “Ramaphosa” also echoed through the hall.
Indirectly addressing Ramaphosa’s critics in his supplication for a successful NGC, ANC former chaplain-general Reverend Vukile Mehana prayed: “We call upon you, Lord, to give him perseverance to focus, because not all will agree with him. When Oliver Tambo led, there were those who did not agree with him. When Nelson Mande led, there were those who were against him.
When Thabo Mbeki led, there were those who were against him.” Allegations surfacedin the run-up to the NGC that some members of the ANCnational executive committee(NEC) were calling for Ramaphosa to resign. In his closing remarks at an NEC meeting last month, Ramaphosa said anyone calling for his removal should do so to his face rather than in private corners. Days later, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula confirmed that a few party members believed its leader should resign and were hoping to use the national general council to advance their agenda.
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He, however, added that Ramaphosa was an asset who would be betraying the ANC by stepping down. Last year, some in the ANC called for the dissolution of its leadership and the NEC after the party failed to win the2024 general electionsoutright, with its national support slumping to an all-time low of around 40%. On Monday, ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe also had strong words for Ramaphosa’s detractors, telling them: “You are going to say whatever you want to say here and not outside these walls.
Anything not prescribed by the NGC is not going to happen.” Ousting Ramaphosa now would be detrimental to the ANC, political analysts told the Mail & Guardian, with one of them, Dale McKinley, adding that the anti-Ramaphosa faction “neither has the power nor the numbers to launch a meaningful threat”. “Rumours of the planned ousting are just factional posturing. It would be political organisational suicide at this stage, one of the lessons to be learnt from history.
Doing so before the elections is like shooting yourself in the foot,” McKinley said, referring to next year’s local government vote. “Despite all the criticism against Ramaphosa, we should remember that those who have broken from the ANC, like the [Jacob] Zuma faction, are not having a great time themselves. Results of the last national election do not give the ANC the power to recall Ramaphosa.
Who are they putting forward?” Ousting Ramaphosa would be “far too divisive”, analyst Daniel Silke weighed in. “I don’t think that at this stage, the ANC can afford to repeat its recent history of removing a sitting president before an election or poll. Whatever the factions say about Ramaphosa — whether there is a rising tide of unease about his leadership abilities or the ANC being able to claw back any lost support, it is just too late in the day for the ANC to repeat its errors of the past,” Silke said.
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