Cyril Ramaphosa has been stuck between a rock and a hard place ever since he took over from Jacob Zuma.

On one side, there’s that whole ‘serving the country’s best interests’ aspect, but then there is also the small matter of dealing with all of the internal politics of the ANC.

Everybody knows that there is a powerful cabal of party members who are gunning for him, but of late it appears like President Ramaphosa is feeling rather confident about the support he holds within the party.

According to the Daily Maverick, who spoke with sources close to the president, he “has come out guns blazing against growing evidence of a nascent plot against him because he does not fear it”.

His speech at the Cosatu congress was evidence of that, where he lectured those present to “plot against poverty rather than against him”, and the numbers back up his confidence:

Internal ANC polls show that Ramaphosa’s personal popularity is at 72%, while his elevation to ANC President has lifted the party’s support to 60%, according to an official who spoke to Daily Maverick on condition of anonymity.

An Ipsos poll out earlier in 2018 shows the ANC at 60% while Ramaphosa’s personal popularity is even higher. In 2017, when revelations of State Capture were at their hottest, the ANC support in polls tipped below 50%, a factor which shocked party leaders because it showed that corruption could see the party lose power.

When compared to Mmusi Maimane and Julius Malema, the president is smelling like roses. These are ratings out of 10, from that same Ipsos poll:

Sounds to me like Mmusi might want to take a few jogs on the Sea Point promenade ASAP.

These stratospheric numbers explain that while the news of a plot may be top of mind for the country, Ramaphosa’s aides are sanguine about what it means when quizzed by Daily Maverick about plot-talk.

The plot in question is that dodgy meeting at the Maharani Hotel in Durban, where Jacob Zuma looked ready for business with his folder.

You can read more about that here.

An official close to Ramaphosa said he isn’t losing sleep over it:

“There is a fightback. The (Maharani Hotel) meeting was not social. (But) there is a critical mass of people behind CR (Cyril Ramaphosa). A clear majority on the NEC ( national executive committee of the ANC) supported the removal (of former President Jacob Zuma as ANC president).

“There are a small group of holdouts,” said the official, in reference to a grouping now ostensibly led by the ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule as revealed in the Sunday Times, which splashed the news of a meeting at the Maharani Hotel between Magashule and Zuma.

Ace Magashule, a horrible excuse for a human masquerading as a politician, might be trying to wangle something on the side, but sources say he doesn’t have the support.

Rather embarrassingly, his supposed stronghold, the Free State, is the province where Cyril Ramaphosa is the most popular. Again, these ratings out of 10:

To further cement support, Ramaphosa is expected to spend the rest of 2018 “pulling good news out of the hat”:

From now until the end of October, there are plans for a range of summits including an investment and jobs summit as well as a high-level plan to tackle youth unemployment. By the end of the year, the ANC plans to have dealt with the uncertainty on land expropriation without compensation by amending the necessary laws.

Ramaphosa is likely to use all this as an arsenal both to deal with his detractors and to shore up both his own support and that of the ANC.

I guess we will just have to make do with the lesser of many evils running the show.

Sadly, there are still dirty, rotten scoundrels roaming the halls of Luthuli House, who continue to work against the best interests of this country and its people.

One such person is currently our vice-president, a captured agent heads up Home Affairs, and the human parasite known as Bathabile Dlamini serves as the Minister of Women in the Presidency.

Until these people and their cohorts are held accountable for their actions and indiscretions, I consider the ANC to be continuing with business as usual.

[source:dailymaverick]