By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) will reconvene a special session of its National Working Committee on Sunday at 14:00, the party said in a statement.
This is as the party is trying to urgently deal with the controversy surrounding President Cyril Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala farm saga in Limpopo.
Ramaphosa is under immense pressure following the release of the report by an independent panel, which made damning findings against him in relation to the theft of $580 000 (R10 million) from his game farm.
Friday’s urgent National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting was adjourned to allow the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to review the Phala Phala report before the NEC reconvenes
Ramaphosa did not attend and our sources said that former president Thabo Mbeki at the start of the meeting had said “Ramaphosa had to be there” to account.
The party’s now moved the much-anticipated NEC forward – to Monday at 10:00, which has been viewed as another victory by those in Ramaphosa’s corner.
His detractors though have expressed anger at what they define as undermining of the organisation by its chief deployee to government.
The ANC has just this weekend to figure out a position as parliament is set to deliberate on the matter on Tuesday.
Since taking office in 2018, Ramaphosa has effectively ended the monopoly of Eskom, the state electricity utility that’s subjected South Africans to intermittent power cuts since 2008, freeing companies to build their own power plants and supply the grid.
The spectrum needed to modernise telecommunications sector was sold after more than a decade of delays. Several former leaders of state companies, politicians and party officials have been charged with corruption
Those moves, however, haven’t alleviated some more immediate concerns.
Unemployment, at 32.9%, is the third highest among 82 countries; most state companies are struggling to repay their debts, and dysfunctional municipalities have left communities with potholed streets and without water and power.
Ramaphosa came to power after the ANC forced Jacob Zuma to step down following an almost nine-year tenure during which the government estimates more than 500 billion rand was stolen from state coffers.
He campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket, and his success as a businessman who had made several hundred million dollars raised hopes he would put in place sound economic policies.
The president won favour with South Africans tired of years of scandal and a deteriorating economy. But his party didn’t fully benefit from his popularity, and its share of the vote fell to below 50% for the first time ever in last year’s municipal elections.
A recent survey by Ipsos forecast that it would win just 41% of the vote in the general elections in 2024, meaning that it would be forced into a coalition to retain power. The party’s prospects may now weaken further.