After re-election, Ramphosa’s leadership in ‘shakier ground’

Pragmatic, wealthy and ambitious, Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected leader of the ANC yesterday, despite being badly damaged by a cash heist scandal that has dogged him for months.

But he is on much shakier ground than when he was first elected party leader in 2017, amid deep divisions within the ANC. Ramaphosa promised a “new dawn” for South Africa when he became president in 2018, but his image has been dented by scandal and a lacklustre economy.

Details about the huge cash haul, stolen from under sofa cushions, have dealt a massive reputational blow to the man who had pledged to root out graft.

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“He was this icon of the cleanup struggle, a paragon of virtue… with this [scandal] came so much doubt on his credentials and a reminder that this is not superhuman,” said political analyst Susan Booysen.

A protege of Mandela, who described him as one of the most gifted leaders of the “new generation”, Ramaphosa stood alongside him when he walked out of jail in 1990. But after missing out on succeeding Mandela, Ramaphosa went into business.

In 2012, his image was tarnished when police killed 34 striking workers at a mine where he was a non-executive director and had called for a crackdown.

He became Zuma’s vice president in 2014 and was criticised for not speaking out against graft.