This pic of an ‘exhausted’ Ramaphosa suggests Supra is a tough nut to crack

A picture doing the rounds of President Cyril Ramaphosa looking exhausted following protracted negotiations with North West ANC leaders, including Premier Supra Mahumapelo, suggests the president has been burning the candle from both ends.

Perhaps he needs a bit of a break. The photo apparently came from a meeting with ANC KZN leaders on Sunday, where he engaged in a difficult assessment of whether province’s ANC elections would be allowed to continue.

He rushed back from his trip to the UK last week to deal with protests against the premier in Mahikeng, but was unable to effect any kind of speedy resolution.

Although the provenance of the picture is not certain, he does seem to be wearing a similar shirt to the one he was seen in TV footage wearing on Friday.

On Friday night, the first round clearly went to Mahumapelo in his fight to cling to power as the ANC top brass failed to remove him, and long hours of behind-the-scenes discussions produced zero results.

Loss was written on Ramaphosa’s face as he announced that further engagement would take place around all the grievances of the protesters.

It was clear that there was no agreement on Mahumapelo’s resignation.

“We have decided to engage further with the community,” a clearly exhausted Ramaphosa told journalists in Mahikeng.

He appealled for calm from Mahikeng citizens so as to give the ANC a chance to come up with a speedy resolution to their demands.

“We will be able to come to a rational decision … we will look at all sides. We assure everyone that we are going to act speedily to address each of these matters,” he said.

Political analyst Dumisani Hlophe from Unisa believes that even if the ANC cites a legitimate reason to oust Mahumapelo, he is likely to resist.

“He does not strike me as a leader who would simply offer to resign should the need arise. He doesn’t convince me he is that kind of a politician. Rather, he appears as someone who would fight on until he is forced out,” the analyst said.