POLITICAL INSIGHT
Twelve months ago, I had no doubt that the national conference of the African National Congress (ANC) would elect Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as president of the ruling party and successor to President Jacob Zuma. Today, a day before the commencement of the conference, I am not so sure. In the past year, the momentum has swung towards Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa – away from Dlamini-Zuma. Why? The momentum for Ramaphosa is a momentum for change. To some extent, the momentum is independent from Ramaphosa. In other words, the hunger and appetite for change inside the ANC and in the country has become a critical component of the groundswell of antipathy towards Zuma. So strong has this wave of antipathy become that it is quite possible that the anything-but-Zuma impulse is stronger than the anything-but-Mbeki impulse of a decade ago.
Please enter the email address that you used to subscribe to Research Channel. Your password will be sent to this address.
Don't have any login details?
Free Trial Access