That struggle is clearly not over – as evidenced by Ramaphosa’s often seemingly inexplicable 'softly, softly' approach to those in the radical economic transformation clique loyal to Zuma.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appears on behalf of the ruling party African National Congress at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry in Johannesburg, South Africa, 11 August 2021. The Zondo Commission was set up by former President Jacob Zuma to investigate state capture and corruption in the country. EPA-EFE/SUMAYZ HISHAM / POOL
Given that the ANC’s leadership seems to have “plausible deniability” as its standard operating procedure, it would be tempting to dismiss President Cyril Ramaphosa’s glib explanations of why state capture blossomed under his watch as deputy president under Jacob Zuma. The massive scale of the corruption – and the losses incurred by the country – is already eye-watering so, if Ramaphosa is to be believed, the country would have been a scorched earth ruin had he and like-minded comrades not fought against it behind the scenes.As it is, though, it looks as if the “fifth column” activity conducted by them against Zuma was singularly ineffective.
If he is to be believed, then it required time and stealth to build the opposition to Zuma. That the Nasrec conference result in 2017 came so close to going in favour of Zuma indicates that Ramaphosa and his allies were fighting a serious struggle.