Gwede Mantashe and President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)
Over the past few weeks, Gwede Mantashe has stamped his authority on both Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet and the ANC.
As Ramaphosa seemed headed for the guillotine after the section 89 independent panel led by retired chief justice Sandile Ngcobo found he had a case to answer over Phala Phala, Mantashe did what he has come to be known for and galvanised support for the beleaguered president.
This was not the first time Mantashe had arranged a human shield chain around an ANC leader. As party secretary general, he had run to Luthuli House on a Friday evening on 1 April 2016 to defend former president Jacob Zuma. This was after the constitutional court had found that Zuma had flouted the Constitution by disregarding the-then public protector Thuli Madonsela’s recommendations that he pay back the money for upgrades to his Nkandla home.
That night, Mantashe told journalists that the president had received clemency from the ANC. Towing the party line, he told both local and international reporters that Zuma had humbled himself and apologised to the nation.
In a candid moment during an interview with Mail & Guardian recently,Mantashe admitted that he had found himself in the situation of having to stand for positions he did not believe in.
Mantashe’s defence of Zuma failed to cement his relationship with the former president’s faction within the ANC, but it confirmed his reputation as a pitbull.
This year, Mantashe has undoubtedly cemented his space in the Ramaphosa camp, despite a push for him to step down and hang up his boots.
Much like Essop Pahad in the days of Thabo Mbeki, Mantashe has become the de facto prime minister in the Ramaphosa camp.
Gwede Mantashe at the ANC’s 55th elective conference at Nasrec. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
It all started in July during the KwaZulu-Natal provincial conference where, as anticipated, provincial delegates were chanting slogans of loyalty to Zuma. Many ANC leaders in attendance, including treasurer general Paul Mashatile, were advising Ramaphosa against attending and delivering a closing address.
But Mantashe sensed a disturbance in the force. Along with Oscar Mabuyane, Enoch Godongwana and Mondli Gungubele — now dubbed the Chris Hani cabal – Mantashe convinced Ramaphosa to stand up to the province and show strength.
The four ANC leaders suspected that Mashatile was setting Ramaphosa up for failure and advised the latter that should he fail to show up to a KwaZulu-Natal conference — a province from which he has historically been unable to gain favour — he would be seen as weak.
Mantashe, who had never bowed to pressure from the hostile KwaZulu-Natal delegation, even offered to close the conference as Ramaphosa’s pitbull.
Fast forward to Phala Phala, with Ramaphosa dead set on resigning after the adverse report from the Ngcobo panel. He made this known to his allies, but Mantashe insisted that this would severely dent the image of the ANC and tank any prospects the country had of recovering from an economic slump.
Along with Mabuyane, Mantashe convened a meeting of provincial leaders including
Zamani Saul from the Northern Cape and Muzi Chirwa from Mpumalanga, who spent hours locked in meetings with Ramaphosa. Soon after, the president did a complete U-turn and vowed to fight the section 89 report in court.
Then, Mantashe again protected Ramaphosa from a combative ANC national executive committee where some were baying for the president’s blood, by advising him not to attend the meeting. He then insisted, after 50 NEC members had spoken — some for Ramaphosa and some against — that the body had heard all that it could and a decision was taken to reject the section 89 report in parliament.
Mantashe warned that those who did not toe the line would face the wrath of the ANC disciplinary committee.
His actions over the past few weeks, maybe even months, to protect and shield Ramaphosa have assured him a position in the ANC president’s slate. Even Limpopo delegates who had never considered him for the role are convinced that he is the only man capable of taking charge in the NEC.
Ramaphosa will need such a person, delegates at the ANC’s national elective conference say. If the M&G’s reporting is anything to go by, if elected for a second term Ramaphosa will step into a very different NEC.
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