Ramaphosa ‘not blind’ to upcoming ANC conference amid criticism

President Cyril Ramaphosa is not blind fact to that the criticism levelled at him may be motivated by attempts to weaken his chances of getting a second term as ANC’s leader.

This is according to Presidency spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, who addressed the media on Tuesday. 

Ramaphosa was publicly criticised by his predecessors while addressing different platforms this past weekend

Former president Jacob Zuma labelled Ramaphosa corrupt, while Thabo Mbeki claimed that criminals were leading the ANC and Kgalema Motlanthe highlighted that the country under Ramaphosa’s leadership was “at the precipice”. 

‘Conspiracies’

Asked if the criticism against Ramaphosa was made with the looming ANC 55th national elective conference in mind during Tuesday’s briefing, Magwenya said the president did not spend much time thinking about the matter since his time was taken up by his governmental duties. 

“The president is not blind to the fact that there is an upcoming conference of the African National Congress this year. But I think we need to balance the reality that a lot of his time is taken up by his responsibility as the head of state. A lot of his energy is focused at the task at hand.

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“ANC members, through an established process, and their branches will decide which ever way they deicide. [The president] will abide by their decision through those processes,” he said.

Magwenya said he was of the view that the former presidents should give “constructive criticism” that would help Ramaphosa steer South Africa in the right direction rather than publicly berating him.

“As to how it happened that all former presidents had pronouncements to make in one weekend… we are not going to get into conspiracies,” he added.

Nomination process

Meanwhile, the ANC has since extended the deadline for nomination of candidates seeking to contest leadership positions at the upcoming conference set for December.

ANC members have until 7 November to finalise branch general meetings (BGMs), some of which has been marred by chaos.

Last week, an ANC member was killed while another stabbed during a BGM in Mpumalanga. 

Addressing the media on Tuesday following the incident, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said the ruling party has encouraged its regions to use the police to help ensure BGMs were trouble-free. 

“We have condemned such despicable behaviour and conduct, and this cannot reflect how branch general meetings are expected to be conducted. When you leave your home to go and attend a BGM of the ANC, your family members must know you will return home in peace.

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“We have told our structures to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure BGMs are conducted peacefully. We should not come back and deal with incidents of violence in our BGMs. Most meetings have been peaceful,” Mabe said. 

In light of the extension, Mabe blamed, among others, the ANC’s online membership verification system for the delay in hundreds of branches not meeting the original deadline for nominations.

Once the ANC has concluded its BGMs, the nominations will be consolidated to compile a list of members who have reached the threshold.