South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa faces wide-
ranging challenges after being elected to lead South Africa’s ruling party as it grapples with corruption allegations and disunity.
He narrowly won the vote on Monday to become head of the African National Congress (ANC) after a bruising race that exposed rifts within the organization that led the fight against apartheid.
Photo: Reuters
Thousands of Ramaphosa supporters sang and chanted in the conference hall, as rival backers of defeated candidate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma appeared dejected.
The victory puts Ramaphosa in line to succeed South African President Jacob Zuma, whose reign has been plagued by corruption scandals, a slowing economy and anger at the once-omnipotent ANC.
Zuma, who faces prosecution for alleged fraud, is predicted to step down as president next year after ruling since 2009.
“He is unlikely to hold out until the end of his term ... as this will damage the party ahead of the 2019 election,” political risk consultancy Eurasia said.
“Zuma is thus likely to end his tenure sometime in the second half of 2018,” it said.
Ramaphosa is set to enjoy a brief honeymoon period — the rand rose 4 percent against the US dollar, suggesting investor confidence in the wealthy former businessman, before pairing gains.
However, he still faces unenviable challenges on public sector cuts to control the ballooning budget and how to battle Zuma-era corruption.
Political analyst Richard Calland warned that Ramaphosa would be constrained by allies of Zuma who were also elected into top ANC positions on Monday’s vote.
“The winner has inherited a mixed blessing, possibly a poisoned chalice,” Calland said.
“It’s going to be very difficult for him to maneuver; he’ll have to reach compromise at every step,” he said.
A vast image of the ANC’s new leader was unfurled as long applause and loud singing greeted the election result at the party conference venue outside Johannesburg.
Outside the hall, ANC supporters blocked a road leading to the conference center, dancing and singing party songs.
Ramaphosa is due to make his first speech as leader today as the conference draws to a close.
Zuma was seen as backing the campaign of Dlamini-Zuma, his former wife, allegedly to try to secure protection from prosecution after he leaves office.
The ANC, which has ruled since 1994 when Nelson Mandela won the first multiracial vote, could struggle to retain its grip on power in the 2019 election due to falling public support.
“I hope you will cooperate with the new leadership ... as we move to the 2019 elections,” outgoing ANC Chairwoman Baleka Mbete told nearly 5,000 delegates who voted for the new ANC leadership.
Ramaphosa, 65, is a former trade unionist leader who led talks to end white-minority rule in the early 1990s and then became a multimillionaire businessman before returning to politics.
He is often accused of failing to confront Zuma while serving as his deputy since 2014.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS