Protesters disrupted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech at the ruling party’s conference with a barrage of raucous songs and slogans on Friday, calling for him to quit over a scandal about a stash of cash found at his farm.
Ramaphosa, who has denied all wrongdoing, had to shout to be heard over the din which mounted when his predecessor and long-time rival, Jacob Zuma, walked into the hall during the address.
“This is not the time to display this type of disorderly behaviour,” Ramaphosa said. “This does not bode well for the ANC.”
The governing African National Congress (ANC) is meeting to choose leaders at a time of political turmoil.
Ramaphosa had been the clear favourite to lead the party into elections in 2024 – but his candidacy was called into doubt when an independent panel said last month he might have committed misconduct over the cash.
The discovery raised questions over how he had got the money, whether he had declared it, and why he had not reported it when thieves broke in, found the cash stuffed into furniture on the farm and stole it.
But he was offered a lifeline when most of the ANC’s lawmakers voted in parliament to reject an inquiry report into alleged misconduct. He said the money had come from the sale of game.
The scandal has energised supporters of Zuma, who is himself being investigated for allowing three Indian businessman to capture state funds during his tenure between 2009 and 2018 – charges he denies.
Outside the meeting hall in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa’s opponents sang: “Out, Ramaphosa, out!”
Inside, when Ramaphosa took the stage rival factions both sang songs and his opponents refused to stop singing for several minutes despite him asking them to quieten down.
Ever since Nelson Mandela won in South Africa’s first free elections in 1994, the leader of his legacy ANC party has de facto become president of the country.
In his speech Ramaphosa pledged to end what he called “extensive corruption, fraud and malfeasance within government departments, state-owned enterprises (and) … law enforcement agencies,” prompting cheers, but also some jeers.
Voters, meanwhile, are also furious over joblessness, poor service delivery and worsening power shortages.
Last year the ANC saw its share of the vote drop below 50% for the first time in municipal polls, a major psychological blow and harbinger of what could be in store in the 2024 vote.
Ramaphosa called “upon all of us as delegates to this conference to pursue with greater vigour the rebuilding and renewal of the ANC and as a united movement, to advance the fundamental transformation of our economy.”
He summarised his policy objectives in the conference by saying its aim was “to create more employment and focus on how we rebuild the economy,” especially easing chronic and crippling power shortages with new electricity generation soon.
Ramaphosa’s closest rival is Zweli Mkhize, allied to Zuma’s faction. Mkhize was the minister of health until Ramaphosa put him on special leave last year in the wake of allegations that his department irregularly awarded COVID-19-related contracts to a communications company controlled by his former associates.
Mkhize denies wrongdoing.
