Ramaphosa allegations a test of his true character and leadership

The ANC’s 55th national elective conference to be held in December may seem months away – but already the road to this very important gathering is littered with rocks and potholes set up by those opposed to the leadership of party president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Questions are still lingering over what really happened on his game farm two years ago, when forex and cash was stolen – particularly whether he stashed large sums of money without making any declaration to the SA Receiver of Revenue and the SA Reserve Bank.

These are important questions, begging for answers. While the timing is meant to serve as a calculated political blow from his detractors – aimed at stirring up trouble in the run-up to the conference – the attack levelled at Ramaphosa should also be viewed as a test of his true character and leadership.

The game farm episode – his business interests and his role at Glencore – are now matters of public interest.

Ramaphosa should ask UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson how it felt when his character was tested by his own Tory comrades during a no-confidence vote this week. Johnson may appear to have come out unscathed but the crux of the matter is that 148 votes against 211 reflect fractured Tories, showing deep rifts worsened by Partygate.

Like the ANC under the stewardship of Ramaphosa, those who led the rebellion against Johnson had no qualms about party policy direction, but had issues about his leadership style and character.

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It has been proven that if, like Johnson, you surround yourself with praise singers – who clap hands despite you facing a deep scandal of your own making – be very afraid as a leader, because they are digging a big hole to bury you.

Despite having been voted into power by a sizeable majority, signs are already on the wall for Johnson – if his public booing at the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth ll is anything to go by. Equally, Ramaphosa is leading a party bedevilled by factionalism.

His ANC presidential victory against Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was with a thin margin – 51.90% against 48.10%. His message of party unity at all costs seems to have fallen on deaf ears – especially those who have joined the ANC to achieve their career, political and business ambitions.

Politics call for brave decisions. Ditching such individuals in favour of a clean, lean and effective government would have been a way to go. But how do you embrace those who have become a liability? While his sights are on winning a second term in office, poor performance in government is how voters will judge him in the 2024 polls.

Clear signs of a rift within the ANC are also reflective of the greed that has hung like an albatross around the neck of the once-glorious movement of Dr AB Xuma, Yusuf Dadoo, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. Careerists, tenderpreneurs and opportunists of the worst order, who have put their interests above those of the people, largely represent the current crop of ANC leadership.

Some were in their nappies or were not even born when the real struggle for the liberation of SA was waged inside the country by fearless leaders like Onkgopotse Tiro, Tsietsi Mashinini, Murphy Morobe, Saki Macozoma, Stone Sizani, Fundile Mafongosi, Oupa Monareng, Siphiwe Mthimkhulu, Livingstone Ntlokwana, Mayford Mfazwe and Fikile Kobese.

The 1976 and the 1980s epoch was marked by men and women who faced the full might of apartheid with stones and petrol bombs – at risk of being killed. Not the current crowd.