It feels like every week is a vital one for the future of South Africa, and we’re saying the same again today.

President Cyril Ramaphosa may have enjoyed his inauguration on Saturday (he clearly found that parachutist’s failed landing rather amusing), but there really is no time to sit back and take it easy.

Later this week, or perhaps over the weekend, the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) will meet, and there should be drama to rival anything you’ll see on House of Cards.

There’s the small matter of the deputy presidency to sort out before then, with Ramaphosa having delayed naming his cabinet, as several ANC MPs appear before the ANC’s integrity commission.

When the power players do convene for the NEC, with talk of a mutiny in the party, the Daily Maverick says that “the dogs of war are ready”:

…factions in the party are preparing themselves for a “bloody clash” later this week when the party’s national executive committee (NEC) meets.

It is expected to become the scene of a battle to gain control of the party’s engine room at Luthuli House with secretary general Ace Magashule’s head likely to be on the chopping block.

At least four NEC members have told News24 that president Cyril Ramaphosa’s faction is gunning for the party secretary-general. The party’s ordinary NEC meeting takes place just before an NEC lekgotla intended to discuss the ANC government’s plans.

These NEC members claim Magashule’s camp is well aware of what’s coming and is probably planning a counter-attack.

It’s quite tough to watch from a distance, knowing that if Ace gets even a whiff of power we’re in trouble, but I guess this is what South African politics has become.

According to one NEC member, the party will call for Magashule to appear before the ANC’s integrity commission, both to explain some of his recent statements, and to deal with the allegations contained in Pieter-Louis Myburgh’s explosive book, ‘Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule’s Web of Capture’:

“One thing I can guarantee, on the 31st [May] there will be blood on the floor but I can’t guarantee an outcome. That guy must go. It definitely will not be easy but he must go.”

“We the dogs of war are ready. Us, the president’s dogs. We just needed a signal and we got it. It’s time to clean up,” added the NEC member.

Ready the attack dogs, and rid your party of some of its more unsavoury characters.

A second ANC inside source also spoke about the tussle inside the halls of Luthuli House:

“Ace is consolidating at Luthuli House. Nomvula is going to the headquarters, and more of his people expected to join him. It’s a mess. It’s a mess that is already playing itself out in public. The president can’t convince South Africans he is cleaning up if the person in charge of the ANC is covered in mud. He needs to be suspended and we have the numbers.”

Buy a nice bottle of bubbles now (here’s our suggestion), and pop it when Ace Magashule is ousted from the ANC power structures. It really would be something worth celebrating.

Just don’t expect that to happen without a fight, or without the inevitable legal wrangling that comes with these sorts of decisions:

A fourth source in the NEC said while he doesn’t think Magashule will disappear after the NEC meeting he was living on borrowed time…

“You can’t be a president without a credible and loyal SG. You need to trust that whomever is at Luthuli House is doing the job correctly. We all know what needs to be done. If not the NPA, it must be the elders [integrity commission] and us who make that call.”

I know it’s tempting to switch off from politics, and we all have a little post-election fatigue. That being said, this is a big week (or few weeks) for the future of the ANC and, ultimately, the ability of Cyril Ramaphosa to govern both his party and the country.

Now we wait.

[source:dailymaverick]