South Africa: Ramaphosa Re-elected Leader of Ruling ANC Party

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Dec 20, 2022

Image copyright: Shutterstock [via The Wall Street Journal]story last updated Dec 20, 2022

The Facts

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) announced on Monday that the country's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has been re-elected leader of the party following the ANC National Elective Conference, which began on Friday.
He garnered 2,476 votes of the 4,384 cast at the conference to beat his former health minister, and rival for the position, Zweli Mkhize. The result means that Ramaphosa — who also won four out of the other six positions in the party's leadership team — will guide the ANC for the next five years.

The Spin

Narrative A

The ANC has shown its steadfast support for Ramaphosa, giving him a bigger win than he achieved in 2017 despite the recent scandal at his game farm. He must now avoid focusing too much on problems within his party, and instead start to govern on behalf of the entire nation amid this severe energy crisis.

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Narrative B

Ramaphosa has won the presidency of the ANC, but he won't necessarily be able to resolve internal party divisions or put forward his renewal project for the party. The political culture of the organization is toxic, and conflicts between his faction and that of the Radical Economic Transformation group have only deepened during the conference. These political circumstances will act as an unyielding barrier to effective leadership and governance.