ANC members rally behind Ramaphosa amidst resignation rumours
President Cyril Ramaphosa has received support from ANC NEC members after rumours about his resignation began circulating.
Image: Jairus Mmutle/GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa has emerged stronger following a tense meeting of the ANC’s national leadership, where he dared those calling for his resignation to confront him directly.
An ANC leader present at the meeting said after the president pushed back against gossiping about his job, he received support from both his supporters and detractors alike.
There have been rumours that the president could be asked to resign in a matter of weeks. The ANC leader said during the tense national executive committee (NEC) meeting this past weekend the ANC Youth League warned anyone seeking to challenge the president to “go through it.”
NEC members who would ordinarily challenge Ramaphosa were among those calling for him to receive support. The rank and file of the party also told The Mercury that they have no interest in the president leaving office before his term is over. Reports indicate that Ramaphosa, following days of speculation about his job, had challenged his political detractors in the NEC to provide him with a date by which he should resign.
In a heated political overview report, it was stated that Ramaphosa urged his political detractors to cease discussing his exit in dark corners like cowards. He told the NEC that if he is asked to resign, he would even do it tomorrow. The president’s comments come after media reports suggested he is planning to resign after the G20 summit. The NEC member who spoke to The Mercury on condition of anonymity said the leadership had indicated strong support for the president.
“A member of the Youth League stood up and asserted that the president will remain in office until after the elections. He basically said that anyone who wants to remove the president will first have to go through the Youth League,” said the member.
“Another former Youth League member, who is usually very outspoken, said nothing and had, in fact, been sending messages in the NEC group, urging people to speak out and show support for the president. He said the president should be showered with well wishes and posted on social media on his birthday. Furthermore, I know that the members in Mpumalanga province are fully behind the president on this matter,” said the NEC member.
An ordinary ANC member said Ramaphosa was not going anywhere and that he still has a lot of support in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Any talk of change is pointless; the conference is only in 2027. Can you imagine that? Furthermore, the material conditions on the ground have changed drastically; there is now a GNU. He is the one who was central in putting those deals together and is crucial to the functioning of this government,” said the member.
An ANC activist in the KZN Midlands remarked that such a call for resignation would have originated within the NEC members themselves, not from ordinary branch members.
“There is a lot of unhappiness with the president here in KwaZulu-Natal. We are not happy with the state of the organisation; the branches are inactive. But we are waiting to remove him from power at the correct time when there is a conference. Any such calls for the president to resign now would be coming from the NEC members themselves.”
Dr Snuki Zikalala, the President of the ANC Veterans League, said that ousting Ramaphosa would spell the end of the ANC. He mentioned that they learned of these concerns about a week ago during an engagement with former President Thabo Mbeki to discuss the renewal of the ANC.
They received a letter stating that the gathering was about the removal of President Ramaphosa and making Mbeki the convener of a task team. He did not clarify where the letter had come from.
“We condemned and denied this as the Veterans League because we know nothing about this. We do not know whether these individuals want to destroy the ANC because immediately when that happens, that is the end of the ANC.
“As veterans, we are not going to allow that to happen; we won’t agree to that proposal.
“We do not have to destabilise the organisation and work towards finishing the ANC,” he said.