By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the end of his predecessor, Jacob Zuma’s, 15-month prison sentence.
Ramaphosa said it was a source of “great relief” to the African National Congress (ANC).
The president made the remarks during a Letsema campaign in Welkom, Free State.
Zuma was admitted at the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal in July 2021. After serving less than two months, he was granted medical parole by Arthur Fraser, former national commissioner of correctional services.
When asked about Zuma’s interests in contesting the party’s chairperson position at the December elective conference, He said as a member of the ANC, Zuma “can stand for any position, but I would say at 80 years, it’s another issue one needs to look at”.
Due to Zuma being “rather advanced in years”, Ramaphosa said he would be better suited to the “key role of an elder, giving advice to the ANC”.
“That would be a wonderful role”, Ramaphosa concluded.
Meanwhile, current ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe said Zuma is too old for the responsibilities of the party’s chairperson position.
Mantashe said while it was up to the branches to make the final decision, Zuma was a bit too old to be accepting any nominations.
“I think he is a bit old for that. Leave that, branches are working, leave it to the branches, don’t ask us. All of us are available, but if branches don’t nominate us, we’re not available”, said Mantashe said.
On the party’s Letsema programme, which aims to address service delivery issues and bring communities closer to the party, Ramaphosa said he was pleased to see the programme coming into its own.
Ramaphosa said the new mayor has focused on how the government can reposition Welkom and has targeted the issue of sewer and public infrastructure.
“All of that is now being attended to and the pleasing thing is that he has even engaged national departments. The minister of water and sanitation as well as transport have been here and are supporting the work that is being done here.”
Ramaphosa also said it was a relief load-shedding had been suspended. “We are continuing to address the issue of Eskom. We are paying a lot of attention to it and the new board and executive management is going to do the same.”