By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Lindiwe Sisulu has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership and called for him to step aside, pending the outcome of investigations into the Phala Phala farm scandal.
Sisulu said she had noted utterances attributed to Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya in his response to her call this week that Ramaphosa should step aside and let the investigation take its cause.
Sisulu’s spokesperson Steven Motale said Magwenya further claimed that Sisulu’s criticism of Ramaphosa “is a reflection of her own performance.
“There’s a reality that some individuals may project their own failures onto the president. The president does not work alone, he works with a team of people and when somebody that is part of that team says the president has failed, they may very well be projecting their own failure within that team and not necessarily the failure of the president, “he said.
Magwenya, who was asked to respond to criticism by Sisulu in an SABC interview, said: “The expected professional decorum is that should they have any concerns about their work, the president and the state of various matters about the country, they will address those issues directly to the president.”
Motale said Sisulu’s office had noted Magwenya’s response to calls that Ramaphosa must step aside pending the outcome of an investigation into the Phala Phala scandal.
“Before making such outlandish remarks, Magwenya would do well to familiarise himself with minister Sisulu’s impeccable track record in all government portfolios she has occupied.
“Sisulu wants to put it on record that her criticism of Ramaphosa is purely motivated by his poor performance as ANC leader. In fact her criticism is not unique. Ramaphosa’s three predecessors have publicly expressed disappointment with his performance as president of the ANC and the country.”
Motale added Sisulu “found it strange that Magwenya, in his capacity as Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, can parachute himself into a political party internal matter”.
He said the reason Sisulu was contesting against Ramaphosa in the ANC elective conference in December is ‘precisely this dismal performance by Ramaphosa as head of the ANC that has seen the party disbanding all its leagues representing an essential aspect of its ongoing existence.
Sisulu got off the starting blocks early in the race to be ANC president with an unprecedented attack on the judiciary in January.
Former spy boss Arthur Fraser in June threw a spanner in the works in the ANC leadership race when he reported a kidnapping and money laundering case against Ramaphosa, his then head of protection unit Wally Rhoode, and Crime Intelligence members for allegedly concealing and not officially reporting a burglary at the president’s farm in February 2020.