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.
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.
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.
-
The environmental cost of GLP-1sThe explainer Producing the drugs is a dirty process
-
Greenland’s capital becomes ground zero for the country’s diplomatic straitsIN THE SPOTLIGHT A flurry of new consular activity in Nuuk shows how important Greenland has become to Europeans’ anxiety about American imperialism
-
‘This is something that happens all too often’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
