Cape Town – Fired African National Congress (ANC) staffer and spokesperson of the disbanded uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) Carl Niehaus has vehemently voiced out his disapproval of Cyril Ramaphosa’s candidacy for a second term as president.
According to The Citizen, this comes after ANC members, including Limpopo Premier and ANC Provincial Chairperson Stan Mathabatha and Police Minister Bheki Cele, publicly endorsed Ramaphosa for a second term as the ruling party’s leader.
The ANC is set to hold its national elective conference in December.
“We believe Cyril Ramaphosa is a man committed to achieving our organisation’s mission. That is why Limpopo says: Cyril Ramaphosa for second the term,” the report quoted Mathabatha as saying.
“If you come to me yesterday, come to me today, come to me tomorrow and ask me who’d be president, that would be Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa,” The Citizen quoted Cele as saying in another report.
In response, Niehaus described Ramaphosa as the “most disastrous president” the ANC has ever had, adding that he “will not be cajoled, nor blackmailed” into accepting him for a second term as president.
“Ramaphosa is the most disastrous president the ANC has had in the 100 years of our existence. The terrible results of the local government elections, which he and his supporters conducted themselves, and abusing the long-standing traditions of the ANC that the January 8 celebrations must not be abused for nominations and personal ambitions, only proved that again this past weekend,” Niehaus said in a statement.
He continued: “Ramaphosa will be challenged, and he must be replaced as president of the ANC. Anything else is an utter nightmare for the continuing survival of the ANC as a liberation movement, and a fate too ghastly to contemplate.”
Read Niehaus full statement below:
We will not be cajoled, nor blackmailed, into accepting @CyrilRamaphosa for a second term as President.#RamaphosaMustGo! pic.twitter.com/1kVxbBGra2
— Carl Niehaus (@niehaus_carl) January 11, 2022
A Times Live report said that Ramaphosa’s first term has been “turbulent” and characterised by a number of challenges, among them, internal party squabbles.
“It was also under Ramaphosa’s leadership that the party implemented the step-aside resolution which saw party leaders facing corruption or criminal charges, including secretary-general Ace Magashule, removed from their positions,” the report said.
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It added: “He has had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, record unemployment and the July civil unrest. He presided over the ANC’s worst electoral performance since the end of apartheid, securing only 46% of the national vote in the 2021 local government elections.”
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Picture: Twitter/@niehause_carl
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Compiled by Sinothando Siyolo
