With Cyril Ramaphosa shunted from the frontline, there are deep concerns in the ANC caucus. Gaye Davis reports
CYRIL Rampahosa did not jump, he was pushed. His decision to opt for a corporate position was not his first choice: he would rather have been finance minister. But he found his political options closed off as deputy president Thabo Mbeki moved to consolidate his power, and this amounted to a shove.
His decision to leave politics has fuelled concerns within the African National Congress and its alliance partners that were set off by the dismissal of former posts, telecommunications and broadcasting minister Pallo Jordan.
Founded in an increasingly unhappy relationship between the ANC as a party and the ANC in government, the concerns centre on a felt lack of consultation and debate within the movement and a watering-down of the glue that held the party together during its years in exile — the pluralism that allowed for a “broad church” that could accommodate diverse political views and talents.
A key question being asked this week was why moves to ease Ramaphosa out went ahead when an (admittedly informal) consensus — which included Ramaphosa — had already been reached that Mbeki would succeed President Nelson Mandela and that there would be no bloody leadership contest.
The resultant shift in power in government has fed concerns about a new culture and style of politics emerging. Cabal is not the word being used, but there is talk about the ascendancy of groups taking decisions outside ANC constitutional structures. While their right to meet is not disputed, concern is mounting over the possibility of such meetings being used to shunt capable people, such as Jordan and Ramaphosa, from the political frontline.
These anxieties are feeding into a wider concern: that ANC and alliance structures have been marginalised in terms of determining policy and strategy, particularly on the economic front, and that this is feeding suspicions of elites — business and political — pacting at various levels.
Mbeki is now in a strong position to determine the country’s economic trajectory. He is in charge of transformation. But when he announced the government’s plans to privatise state assets, labour saw this as him aligning himself with old economic establishment agendas.
The decision to close the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) office, without any simultaneous articulation of a clear policy to take reconstruction and development forward, also sparked concerns about a lack of both consultation and forward-thinking on a cornerstone policy of the ANC — although the decision itself was felt to be correct.
Concerns emanated not only from within the ANC and the alliance, but also from foreign governments which frame their aid agreements around the RDP and were perplexed by the sudden closure of the office.
Labour’s head-on response to the South Africa Foundation’s Growth for All strategy is evidence of attempts by the democratic movement to get its act together and regain lost ground. Discussions are under way within the alliance to develop a more coherent approach.
Ramaphosa has said he is being “deployed” in his new job as executive deputy chairman of New Africa Investments Limited (Nail) to spearhead black economic empowerment. He will be part of a joint bid by Nail and the National Empowerment Consortium (NEC) to buy Anglo-American’s 48% share of industrial group Johnnic, of which the newspaper group Times Media Limited is the major interest.
But news of his decision — leaked soon after he began a round of consultations with senior ANC members and organised labour — came as a surprise.
Some believe Ramaphosa is acting out of pique. While this element cannot be discounted, it is not the driving force behind his decision.
That his move was not discussed within the ANC leadership or structures has raised questions — such as who deployed him, with what mandate, and underpinned by what strategy? Parallels were being drawn this week with a similar unbundling that took place after the Nationalist Party came to power in 1948 when Afrikaners were given a slice of the big business pie.
Another concern being expressed was the absence of a collective approach by the ANC leadership in planning career paths for senior — and valued — members. The view is that deploying people in business may be the right move, but that it should be decided collectively, rather than being a case of “bump and push”.
It is known that Nail has carried out a long flirtation with Ramaphosa: when he indicated an interest in going into business ahead of ANC leadership elections in 1994, it was in response to an early overture from Nail’s chairman Dr Nthato Motlana.
The Mail & Guardian has it on good authority that Ramaphosa had his eye on becoming finance minister once he discharged his duty of steering through the new constitution, and that he was given indications this would become a reality. However, these then evaporated — and the job went to former trade and industry minister Trevor Manuel. Mandela’s statement that there would be no further reshuffle is said to have been the last straw.
While Cosatu responded with a wait-and-see attitude to his decision, Nail’s linkage with the NEC — with its mining, clothing and textile-union interests — does offer Ramaphosa possibilities to plough virgin territory and develop a broad support base.
Trade unions want to use their pension funds to generate profits, but members will hold their representatives to their mandates, will want report-backs and will expect spending on social development.
But there are those who are disappointed Ramaphosa did not opt for focusing on his position as secretary general of the ANC. After his election to the post in 1991 he was plunged into negotiations. On his re-election in 1994 — after being persuaded to stand by Mandela, who rallied provincial support for him — he took on the job of co-chairing the Constitutional Assembly, again at Mandela’s insistence. He has been able to devote little time to the job, which has been performed mostly by his capable deputy, Cheryl Carolus.
Ramaphosa said this week the possibility of his staying on until fresh leadership elections at the ANC’s national congress in December 1997 was under discussion and that he would abide by any decision of the leadership, indicating that he was keen on keeping his options open.