Don’t count Cyril out

Multimillionaire businessman Cyril Ramaphosa is ready to accept nomination for the presidency of the ANC, despite past public statements that he was not interested in the party’s top job.

Ramaphosa’s low-profile entry into the ANC’s presidential race prompted by his nomination for the presidency by the party’s Gaby Shapiro branch in Rondesbosch, Cape Town — caused a stir in ANC circles, with some giving an almost audible sigh of relief.

It is understood that although Ramaphosa will not talk publicly about his nomination, he has informally told the Rondebosch branch that he will make himself available.

A Ramaphosa supporter told the Mail & Guardian: ‘I can tell you one thing for sure, he won’t be making statements on this issue now. He’ll wait for the branches to make their voices heard.

‘He’s a disciplined cadre who respects ANC traditions; he won’t be starting a marketing campaign for himself.”

Ramaphosa refused to talk about the issue on Wednesday at the launch of a R1-billion fundraising project for the University of Venda, of which he is chancellor. But his public appearances will now inevitably be seen as campaigning by other means.

In some circles the news that Ramaphosa has quietly dropped his hat in the ring came as no surprise.

‘We always hoped he would still come to the party at some stage. There was a general expectation that it was just a matter of time before he made his intentions known,” said an ANC MP.

His relatively late entry into the race is not seen as a insurmountable hurdle.

‘He has always been extremely popular and he is not exactly a dark horse,” said the MP. ‘People always had in the back of their minds that in addition to the three obvious candidates, [Thabo] Mbeki, [Jacob] Zuma and Tokyo [Sexwale], there was Cyril.”

His supporters also dismiss the idea that his tycoon image will undermine his appeal to ordinary ANC members, who are mostly rural and poor.

Said Amos Mboweni, chairperson of the Gaby Shapiro branch: ‘If someone has grown up in the ranks of the movement, that will not change. He understands the challenges that face the people of this country.”

Another source said Ramaphosa was ‘more in touch with the common man” than businessman Sexwale.

‘Cyril is acceptable because he appeals to both the Mbeki and Zuma camps, without having Tokyo’s flashiness.”

Ramaphosa has not appeared on the ‘top six” lists of the ANC’s provinces or other structures, but the lists drawn up by supporters of both Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki include him on the national executive committee, where he has served for the past decade.

But the road to Limpopo will be a long one for Ramaphosa.

Candidates must be nominated by branches and discussed at provincial general councils (PGCs) in each province before November 26, when nominations close.

At the PGCs the four candidates who receive the most branch nominations will be included on the provincial ballot, but there is provision for nominations from the floor if a nomination is seconded by 25% of the 40 000 delegates, who will vote by secret ballot.

Only one provincial nomination — the ANC’s youth and women’s league now count as provinces — is needed for a candidate to appear on the ballot paper at the Polokwane conference.

At this stage it is not known whether Ramaphosa has received further branch nominations, although it is said that his name has been raised for various positions in branch debates.

‘He will be nominated by most branches in the country, maybe not for president, but for one of the top six positions,” a source predicted.

The ANC Women’s League is still discussing its options, while the Youth League has made it clear it will nominate no one except Zuma for president.

Delegates in Polokwane will be allowed to cast a different vote from the one proposed by their branches.

‘When they get there, they are allowed to lobby and be lobbied,” said ANC spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso.

Some of Ramaphosa’s detractors said his nomination did not worry them. Said an Mbeki lobbyist: ‘Any individual who comes forward now is wasting his or her time. His one branch nomination is insignificant. ANC members don’t like experimenting, especially at the 11th hour. They like tried and tested things.”

The Zuma camp said that although it ‘doesn’t have a problem with Ramaphosa”, he is not seen as a threat to its campaign.

A high-ranking ANC member in Gauteng said tradition dictates that the nominee must wait until the last minute before publicly accepting or declining nomination.

Another source said Ramaphosa is adamant that he will not accept nomination unless he is sure of winning, to avoid the same humiliating defeat he suffered at the ANC’s 1997 Mafikeng conference. There, Mbeki took the presidency even though Ramaphosa was supported by former president Nelson Mandela.