AMONG the main contenders for the upcoming ANC conference, President Cyril Ramaphosa and former health minister Zweli Mkhize, the latter emerges as the one with a good record of service delivery although they may both be tainted with corruption allegations.
Ramaphosa was elected as the ruling party and state president in 2017 and 2018 respectively, with the ticket of fighting corruption, particularly linked to state capture. At the same time, Mkhize is praised for his good performance from the time he was KwaZulu-Natal premier up to the health ministry dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic until he had to resign in August last year because of Digital Vibes allegations.
However, political analysts have a lot to say about Mkhize’s performance as compared with the president, whose tenure has been engulfed by a lack of service delivery, load shedding being on top.
Those who spoke to Independent Media see Ramaphosa as having performed better in purging his adversaries within the ANC instead of delivering ANC resolutions such as land expropriation and the creation of a state-owned bank.
“Mkhize has built a good career being a premier in KZN, being the treasurer-general of the ANC at Luthuli House and he did a sterling job when it came to the Covid-19 pandemic as he has been visible and did quite a lot together with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma (as the leader of the National Coronavirus Command Council),” said Bheki Mngomezulu, a UWC political science professor.
Although Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Dlamini Zuma, who is the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) minister, did not feature on the branch nomination list released by the ANC’s electoral committee chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe, there is still hope that one of them, if not both, might be nominated from the floor. Deputy President David Mabuza cannot be ruled out from the race, just yet, as he may also be nominated from the floor.
Mkhize dealt with Covid-19 under Ramaphosa’s stewardship and possibly directive. It has been reported that under Ramaphosa, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has swelled by 1.7% this year, and it has been projected that it will also grow by 1.1% in 2023, and 1.6% in 2024 despite the pandemic, the uprising in KZN and parts of Gauteng, and Eskom’s load shedding.
Still, under Ramaphosa’s administration, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo conducted an Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including organs of state, which led to certain government state-owned entities leaders and business leaders being identified as culprits although many are yet to be brought to justice to defend themselves.
Many critics have accused Zondo of being Ramaphosa’s defender who targeted former president Jacob Zuma at all costs.
Mngomezulu said Mkhize’s good reputation took a fall when he was implicated in a Digital Vibes scandal.
“Even with that one, I still applaud him because when the Digital Vibes matter surfaced, he did not wait for the formal charges to be laid against him or the ANC to invoke the step-aside resolution,” said Mngomezulu.
When other media houses repeatedly bombarded him with the Digital Vibes matter, which involved his son and his associates, Mkhize voluntarily resigned as the health minister.
“One of the questions I am asking is what is so difficult for the president to do exactly the same? When I made that point, people were saying that it would be premature because no charges have been laid against the president.
“But I said, but Dr Zweli Mkhize did exactly that before any charge was laid. Now he is coming back because he is not under any step-aside, so he is available and he is running for the presidency,” Mngomezulu said.
However, another political analyst, Mpumelelo Zikalala, said Ramaphosa had successfully projected himself as a champion of a clean government although he had the Phala Phala scandal sitting heavily on his shoulders.
He said Matamela, as the president is popularly known, has also been able to portray the ANC as the professional party among people of all races.
Although there had been growing calls for Ramaphosa to resign, according to Zikalala, these calls were not widespread among South Africans. He said Ramaphosa’s support had dwindled within the ANC while he is still loved by the outsiders who do not have the power to re-elect him as the party leader.
“Zweli (Mkhize) on the other side is known as Mr Vibe even though there is no case that is currently going on, it is still allegations that he may have unduly benefited.
“In terms of the members of the public, I don’t think he is in a good light; however, within the ANC check the branches that he has visited and check the regional and provincial conferences that he has been able to influence, especially in KZN. He has been able to convince some of the candidates to vote for him in exchange for certain positions, and you can see that he is on his way to something,” Zikalala said.
Another political analyst, Protas Madlala, commented about Dlamini Zuma, Sisulu and Mabuza. He described Dlamini Zuma as a politician with a good reputation when it comes to government.
“She worked very well in the Cogta and Home Affairs. She has also been the chairperson of the AU (African Union). I never heard of any scandal about her except the one involving Mbongeni Ngema and ‘Sarafina 2’ when she was the health minister.
“She is an experienced leader, but her main problem is her hyphenated surname (Dlamini Zuma), which gives an impression that she is captured by her ex-husband (Jacob Zuma), who wants to run the government through her, which I don’t think is founded,” said Madlala.
Madlala did not have much to say about Mabuza but did not rule out that he might be nominated from the floor because with ANC members “corruption is an honour”.
He said Mabuza would have been a dangerous soccer player who would score an unexpected goal when everyone was expecting a referee to blow the final whistle.
“He appeared from nowhere in 2017 (54th ANC conference) and became the deputy president. There is nothing I can say about him as the deputy president. He is the absent deputy president,” Madlala said.