Cyril Ramaphosa wins tight ANC leadership vote
Anti-corruption businessman faces steep challenge to unify party and revive South Africa’s flagging economy

Cyril Ramaphosa has been chosen as the next leader of the African National Congress, inheriting a party bitterly divided by a leadership election, insider fighting and corruption allegations.
Deputy President Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman who campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, was elected by a narrow margin, winning by 2,440 votes to 2,261 against President Jacob Zuma’s ex wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a former senior minister and party stalwart who had promised “radical economic transformation”.
A former protege and preferred successor of the late Nelson Mandela, Ramaphosa is expected to set the direction for the ANC, and probably South Africa, for years to come. Despite problems facing the party, its leader is still expected to become the country’s next president, in 2019.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The vote is perhaps the most pivotal moment for deeply divided African National Congress since it launched black-majority rule under Nelson Mandela’s leadership 23 years ago,” Reuters says.
The victory of the 65-year-old Ramaphosa, “will come as a relief to those in South Africa who feared populist and potentially divisive policies from Dlamini-Zuma” but will be a “disappointment to those who believe he lacks the will to take measures needed to redistribute wealth and lift millions out of deep poverty”, reports The Guardian.
Given the stakes and wildly opposing visions for the future of South Africa set out by each candidate, it is unsurprising the leadership battle has provoked fierce political infighting and soul-searching within the ranks of the ANC, “raising fears the party may split before then”, reports the BBC.
While Nelson Mandela’s ANC once inspired hope, says The New York Times, many analysts now describe the party as “a shadow of what it once represented - bereft of ideals, roiled by insiders fighting over diminishing spoils, abandoned by a growing list of disillusioned graying party heroes” and synonymous with corruption.
Jacob Zuma's presidency is expected to “limp along” but probably not for the 18 or so months allowed under the electoral schedule, writes Vukani Mde in South African Mail & Guardian newspaper.
“His fate in that arena will be decided in the next few weeks by a combination of factors, including the new ANC leadership, the party’s electoral prospects, various court processes and whatever still has to slither out of the ethical sewer that is the #GuptaLeaks emails,” Mde says.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Critics' choice: Three takes on tavern dining
Feature A second Minetta Tavern, A 1946 dining experience, and a menu with a mission
By The Week US
-
Film reviews: Warfare and A Minecraft Movie
Feature A combat film that puts us in the thick of it and five misfits fall into a cubic-world adventure
By The Week US
-
What to know before lending money to family or friends
the explainer Ensure both your relationship and your finances remain intact
By Becca Stanek, The Week US
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Kill the Boer: Elon Musk and the anti-apartheid song
Under the radar Billionaire reignites controversy by linking South African 'struggle song' to 'white genocide'
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Why South Africa's land reform is so controversial
The Explainer Donald Trump has turned his ire on the South African government's land reform policies
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff