ANC could ditch RET as a policy now that Ramaphosa camp rules roost

As the ANC gears to host the second leg of its 55th national conference, political analysts have cast doubt on whether the party will still adopt its controversial radical economic transformation (RET) policy.

The conference was postponed to today after it failed to conclude critical tasks, including the adoption of reports, owing to several delays and minimal protests at Nasrec two weeks ago.

Analyst weighs in

Political analyst Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast said the key question would be if the ANC would adopt the RET policy as a political programme after it adopted it in the previous conference in 2017.

He also questioned what would happen to the policy of the nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank and the policy of land reform.

“Are all these still going to be the policies of the ANC, or will they do away with them?” he asked. “The Ramaphosa faction never wanted to adopt those policies in the first place.

“They gave in because in the previous conference, there was a threat that was posed by the RET faction to the conference.

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‘Strategy’

“They wanted to collapse the conference if those policies were adopted, so as a strategy, the other faction gave in knowing very well that once they ascended in power, they will disregard those policies, as they have done.”

Breakfast said the other issue that stood out for him was the fact that the ANC’s newly elected secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, had said the conference would not discuss President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala scandal.

He said this begged the question of transparency. “What is the political meaning of this? Does it mean the party does not take the issue of corruption seriously because in the build to the conference, we heard the matter would be referred to the conference, but now Mbalula is saying the conference will not examine the matter.

“The Phala Phala issue is not going to go away. As much the president has won the political battle, he has not won the legal battle.”

Step-aside rule

Another controversial policy likely to dominate conference is the step-aside rule which, Breakfast argued, was a battle which Ramaphosa’s detractors had lost.

“The forces of the RET were in high spirits and were going to argue for the policy to be done away with. The fact that they lost elections in almost all the positions has weakened them,” he said.

“The Ramaphosa faction has been very strategic because, at the policy conference, they won the debate and the policy was not done away with.

The mere fact that they have won strategic positions speaks volumes.”

Another political analyst, Xolani Dube, said there would be no policy changes at the ANC conference wrap-up as the party was not in charge of itself.

“There’s nothing to expect, it’s just going to be a whitewash, it is just going to be ticking the box.”

Dube said the Phala Phala issue would be used to control Ramaphosa.

“It is the leverage of the ruling class to say if you do not do what we want, we can simply take you to prison at any time,” he said.

“It is like the arms deal for Jacob Zuma and the aids issue for Thabo Mbeki. The ruling class always has leverage on how to control their own anointed president.”

He said the newly elected NEC would also not discuss Phala Phala as they were using Ramaphosa as a stepladder for their political preservation.

“It would also be naive for the ANC to do away with their president on the eve of the elections; it would put the organisation in serious disarray.”

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– lungam@citizen.co.za