Just a week after President Cyril Ramaphosa reassured the country he intended to serve a full term in office, ANC Limpopo provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe has come out in support of his continued presidency.
This comes amid speculation Ramaphosa's rivals plan to use the party’s national general council (NGC) — scheduled for next year — to call for his ousting, because he led the party to its worst electoral performance since 1994.
Others say Ramaphosa could suffer the same fate as his predecessors, former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, who were removed from the Union Buildings as soon as the party elected a new leader.
The ANC’s next national elective conference is scheduled for 2027.
Madadzhe said Ramaphosa was “doing fairly well” in his position.
“The president is deployed in government by the ANC structures and also by the constitution of the ANC. In this regard, the national executive committee [NEC] is empowered to make a decision. If it assesses President Ramaphosa and thinks he is doing fairly well, it will allow him to complete [his term].”
Madadzhe said decisions by previous NECs to recall Mbeki and Zuma had not been taken on a whim. Those structures had their reasons for taking such drastic action. He said the NEC would have spoken to the two former leaders before making the relevant decisions to recall them.
The national executive committee [NEC] is empowered to take a decision. If it assesses president Ramaphosa and thinks he is doing fairly well, they will allow him to complete [his term]
— Reuben Madadzhe, ANC Limpopo provincial secretary
“Of course, [such decisions] will be based on certain information that will be at the disposal of the NEC during that time. From where I am sitting, I know that for this seventh administration we are talking [about] the president of the republic [being] President Ramaphosa. I’m not worried [about] whether he will finish the term or not because it’s not my decision or my judgment to make.
“I think he is doing fairly well when it comes to the GNU. He is trying to navigate it very well, and we hope [the party] can arrive at the next election with the same vigour we are seeing from him and the cabinet.”
The support of Limpopo province is the most reliable indicator that Ramaphosa will have strong backing at the NGC.
The Eastern Cape is another province that would need to be lobbied to support the recall of Ramaphosa. However, Oscar Mabuyane, who remains dominant in the province, continues to support Ramaphosa.
Last week, Ramaphosa told a press conference at the Union Buildings he intended to finish his term.
“But in the end, I’m elected by my party. And if [party] members have other views, I’m their servant. I’m not a dictator. I will never be, [and] I have never been. I will implement the decisions of my party.”
The NGC — which is the party’s midterm policy review meeting — is expected to test Ramaphosa’s support at branch level, and will also provide those wishing to depose him with clarity about whether they have the support of the rank-and-file members.
Ramaphosa was re-elected ANC president with the backing of the Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces at the party’s 55th national conference in 2022.
These provinces maintained their support for the ANC president in the face of lobbying against him by the KwaZulu-Natal delegation in the run-up to the 2022 local government elections.
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