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ActionSA notes the re-election of Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC President. While some quarters may regard this as a victory for Ramaphosa, it is clear from the events of the past couple of days that the ANC remains a deeply ethically compromised organisation. 

It is not lost on us that the ANC and its leadership spent the better part of conference jostling for position and embroiled in factional battles almost no time was spent on the challenges of unemployment, load shedding, crime, education or illegal immigration. This is why SA must stop looking for solutions from the ANC when the ANC cares only about which faction gets to stuff their furniture.

Ramaphosa beat his challenger, Zweli Mkhize, with 2,467votes out of 4,364 – despite Mkhize’s complicity in the R150 million Digital Vibes scandal. Moreover, Nomvula Mokonyane has made her way to the Top 7 despite the State Capture Report finding that she should be prosecuted for corruption after finding sufficient evidence that she took bribes from Bosasa. The election of such unethical individuals to the leadership of the ANC is an indictment of the values of the organisation.  

We appreciate that some South Africans regard this as the election of the lesser devils, but it is clear that the ANC remains a criminal enterprise with Cyril Ramaphosa at its helm who, to this day, is yet to answer for his culpability in the Phala Phala Farmgate debacle. This dark cloud of criminality still hangs over his head and is certain to follow him throughout his new term as Party President.

Nevertheless, now that Cyril Ramaphosa has secured his second term as ANC President and President of the country, we urge him to honour his commitment to South Africans that he now takes decisive action to root out corruption and take decisive steps to address loadshedding and widespread unemployment.

It is worth noting that in his opening speech to the Elective Conference, Ramaphosa admitted that ANC policy, poor management and corruption caused load shedding. As the President of the ANC and of the country, Ramphosa must do more than just acknowledge this self-evident truth – he must now address the Eskom issue once and for all.

It must be repeated that South Africa over the last decade has had to come to terms with political leaders who are battling criminal charges and violations of the Constitution. This seems to preoccupy these leaders when the country is desperate for effective and ethical leadership. 

This elective result reaffirms our assertion that indeed that there is no “good ANC” or “bad ANC”. That the ANC is a criminal enterprise, and our position has been vindicated by this latest development.

South Africans deserve a president whose leadership is beyond reproach and after Jacob Zuma, now Cyril and the ANC Top 7, it is clear that ethical leadership cannot be found in the ANC.

The only way South Africa will prosper is if we remove this criminal organisation from government and elect a competent and ethical government that will put the interests of the country first.

Issued by ActionSA President  Herman Mashaba